Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
One of the city's most intriguing museums is slightly off the beaten track both in location and in the art it represents.
Noted in 2000 by Chicago's public radio station for having the best exhibit of the decade, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, founded in 1991 is know nationally for its collection, education and mission to preserve naive, raw art. Intuit's philosophy is rooted in the belief that art exists outside of academia. Often found in flea markets or on the street, the movement started in Europe with Jean Dubuffet, becoming popular in the U.S. by 1972.
An afternoon spent at Intuit is often a welcomed reprieve from the city's mainstream cultural scene. Though small in staff and size, the exhibits are unforgettable. What's more, Intuit has one of the most interesting gift shops you'll find on the museum scene as it stocks a treasure trove of hard-to-find books and memorable t-shirts. As its website boasts, the shop offers "quirky" items found nowhere else in Chicago.
A not-for-profit organization, Intuit has 1,100 works in its collection and continues to be recognized for its educational programs. "Appreciation for outsider art has grown nationally," said Cleo Wilson, Intuit's executive director and one of the center's founders. Considered to be the most "democratic" form of art, naive or folk art pieces are made of everything from twigs to paper, breaking traditional vision and rules in their construction. Wilson said that Intuit fits well into Chicago's art history adding that the first speech Dubuffet gave (at looking on art) outside of academia took place at The Chicago Art Club.
With an estimated 8,000 visitors yearly, Intuit is on the radar, and continues to garner accolades as the outside movement flourishes. Outsider artists in the collection or exhibited at Intuit include artists such as Charles Steffen, Peter Anton, Ulysses Davis, William Hawkins, Joseph Yoakum, David Phipot, Lee Godie.
HelloChicago Tip: Intuit is also home to the Robert A. Roth Study Center, a non-circulating collection that includes books, catalogs, periodicals, slides photographs, videotapes and archive materials, with a focus in the fields of outsider and contemporary self-taught art. Their holdings contain an extensive and growing collection of books, catalogs, periodicals, slides, photographs, videotapes and archive materials.
Posted by Lori Rotenberk
