The Korea Foundation (KF) announced that Yeonsoo Chee has been appointed as the first KF-endowed Curator of Korean Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC).
 
As the inaugural KF-endowed curator, Yeonsoo Chee brings her extensive experience as a dedicated curator of Korean art at the AIC since 2020, specializing in modern Korean painting and Joseon court art. Her career includes positions at leading institutions such as the USC Pacific Asia Museum and the National Palace Museum of Korea.
 
She holds a BA in English Literature from Ewha Womans University and both a BA and MA in Art History with a focus on Korean Art from California State University, Long Beach. Chee is recognized as one of the leading curators driving the growing wave of interest in Korean art across North America.
 
Chee recently oversaw the expansion and reopening of the Korean Art Gallery at the Art Institute of Chicago and curated the upcoming special exhibition on the Lee Kun-hee Collection, scheduled to open at the museum next year. She also played a key role in the successful organization of the “2025 Workshop for Korean Art Curators: Chicago,” co-hosted by the Korea Foundation and the AIC in June.
 
The workshop brought together experts from major U.S. art institutions, including the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Denver Art Museum, New York University Institute of Fine Arts, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). During the event, Chee introduced the AIC’s Korean art holdings and led a roundtable discussion on the theme “Challenges and Prospects for the Expansion of Korean Art in the United States.”

The KF-endowed curator initiative is a program in which the Korea Foundation (KF) collaborates with leading international museums to jointly establish permanent curatorial positions dedicated to Korean art. By securing endowments for these roles, the initiative aims to build a sustainable foundation for the long-term development and global visibility of Korean art.
 
Through this program, KF has supported the creation of dedicated Korean art curator positions at institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art on the U.S. East Coast, as well as the Cleveland Museum of Art in the Midwest. The recent appointment at the Art Institute of Chicago is part of this ongoing initiative.
 
Tao Wang, Pritzker Chair of Arts of Asia, Executive Director of Initiatives in Asia, and Curator of Chinese Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, remarked:
 
“The Korean art collection at the Art Institute of Chicago spans over two thousand years, from the Three Kingdoms period to the present day. It includes exquisite celadon ceramics, exceptional ink paintings, and contemporary works that carry Korea’s cultural heritage into the present. We are deeply grateful to the Korea Foundation for supporting the transition of our first Korean art curator position into an endowed role. With the establishment of this endowed position, we believe the museum’s reputation as a leading institution for the presentation of Korean art and culture will continue to grow.”

References

• 한국국제교류재단 보도자료 (Korea Foundation Press Release)