Intuit Museum: Making Intuitive and Outsider Art Visible

Building a Resilient Epicenter for Self-Taught Art:

When a museum fails to call attention to itself, it may not be seen. Architecture Is Fun, as cultural and strategic planning experts, envisioned Intuit as a more relevant and resilient destination; a visible one with a willingness to engage in contemporary culture, giving voice to social issues and artists. The new physical plan says hello; it makes the somber building porous, bolder, and more inviting. In this way, Intuit Museum can build pathways into their collections and resource.To establish a functional program for the future, we led multiple listening sessions with vested constituents: board, artists, curators, educators, teens, staff, and museum director. A thorough review highlighted key performance indicators. Our design solution features many imperatives, none as critical as the museum’s lack of visibility – from street presence to cultural prominence. The first step will remove barriers, open the façade to create an attractive front porch for the neighborhood. Providing daylight and views, in and out, enables new connections to resource, art, and learning, as well as fosters a healthy workplace. 

The proposed entry juxtaposes museum gems, one seen above, to house the Henry Darger Room, and one visible below, home for artists-in-residence. We re-imagine the complex two-building museum as one social construct full of public space, active galleries, and art-making spaces. Creative programming and events involving a new bar and workshops in person and on-line will appeal to and engage the community next door and at large. 

Building for tomorrow, creating a resilient de-carbonized institution will lessen the financial burden on future museum leaders and allow for museum stewardship. 

Architecture Is Fun’s 2030 assessment and designs for the future of the Intuit Museum will make what was once invisible, relevant, seen, and spoken about.