Chicago's Intuit Art Museum has completed a two-year, $10 million renovation that triples its footprint and adds a lower level featuring the Henry Darger Room, a permanent installation recreating the artist's apartment. The museum will preview publicly on April 25 during Expo Chicago and officially reopen on May 23. The renovation, led by president and CEO Debra Kerr and local architecture firm Doyle & Associates, balances improved accessibility and natural light with preservation of the building's historic character. The inaugural exhibition, "Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-taught Art in Chicago" (May 23–January 11, 2026), features 75 works by 22 artists exploring migrant and immigrant contributions to outsider art from the 1930s to today.
The renovation and exhibition matter because they significantly expand the museum's capacity to showcase outsider and self-taught art, a genre with deep roots in Chicago dating to Jean Dubuffet's 1951 talk on Art Brut at the Arts Club of Chicago. The museum's growth reflects a broader institutional shift from its origins as a kunsthalle without a permanent collection to a full-fledged museum accepting legacy gifts from founding members. The "Catalyst" exhibition, supported by the Terra Foundation's Art Design Chicago initiative, breaks new ground by examining the overlooked contributions of immigrant self-taught artists, potentially reshaping scholarship in the field.