CHICAGO (May 19, 2025) — History tells us that great artistic movements beget great artists, but Intuit Art Museum has been challenging this idea for decades by asking, “Who gets to make great art?”
Formerly known as the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, the River West institution reopens May 23 after a 20-month, $10 million renovation, with the pithier name, triple the space, and an intriguing exhibition, Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-Taught Art in Chicago. Running through early next year, it showcases 92 works by 22 Chicago artists from 1930 to the present — an apt homage to the city’s early championing of outsider art, a genre that is approachable yet difficult to define. Museum president and CEO Debra Kerr describes it simply as work by “untrained creators.” It’s a movement that declares, audaciously, that art can be found anywhere and be made by anyone.
“There’s so much important work happening in spaces like public libraries, the park district, and artists’ homes,” says Alison Amick, Intuit’s chief curator. “These were artists who were making their own paths to create and work, looking for opportunities to build community and exhibit their art.”
The show provides a timely exploration of the impact immigrants have had on the city’s culture scene. Even so, Catalyst is more of a celebration than a political message: This is our city; these are our people. Look around you — art is everywhere.
About Intuit
Intuit champions the diverse voices of self-taught art, welcoming both new and familiar audiences. Intuit presents the work of self-taught artists—also known as outsider art. These artists typically work outside the mainstream and may have faced societal, economic or geographic barriers to a traditional path of art making. By presenting a diversity of artistic voices, Intuit builds a bridge from art to audiences.
