CHICAGO (September 2, 2026) — Debra Kerr, Intuit Art Museum
“I see it as my personal mission to elevate the role that museums can play in social good,” explains Debra Kerr, president and CEO of the Intuit Art Museum, the museum of self-taught art. That has been a through line in her career, from her time at the Shedd Aquarium and her youth-focused nonprofit, YouthMuse. Since taking the helm of IAM in 2014, Kerr has aimed to make the museum more welcoming and accessible through engaging programming and art education programs, as well as its recent expansion and rebranding in 2025. In addition to her work at IAM, she mentors young professionals in their careers and teaches museum management classes at Northwestern University. She sees IAM as her legacy project. But the work is not done. She wants to make the museum even more open to all people, such as developing tours for people with no or low vision. (Elisa Shoenberger)
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.
