Chee Pearlman began her career as an editor and writer at art publications before joining I.D. Magazine, where she became editor-in-chief. At I.D. she spearheaded a movement to redefine and recognize the impact of design while also elevating the wonders of overlooked everyday objects. I.D. Magazine won five National Magazine Awards under her direction.

She went on to found the consultancy Chee Company Inc., creating books, conferences, exhibitions and journalism that raised design’s visibility and power. She co-chaired the Chrysler Design Awards for its 10-year duration and oversaw the Curry Stone Design Prize with its founders. Both projects brought recognition and funding to dozens of design innovators.

In 2000, Chee curated the landmark Voting Booth Project exhibition at The New School in New York. She invited 50 artists, designers and architects to re-interpret the Florida voting booth failure and the “hanging chads” that came to symbolize the Gore v. Bush election. From 2004 through 2008,  she directed the biannual Art Center Design Conference in Pasadena, California, bringing dozens of innovators to the stage at each event. In 2016 she guest curated an acclaimed exhibition of the work of fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi at the Jewish Museum in New York. 

Chee’s career has also been characterized by independent writing and editing. She has been a contributor to the New York Times, Newsweek, Domus, Popular Science and Travel & Leisure and has edited numerous books, including Spectacle by David Rockwell and Perverse Optimist by Tibor Kalman. She is the author of Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History.

Chee’s engagement with the design community has led her to serve on the boards of the American Institute of Graphic Design, the Art Directors Club, and the American Society of Magazine Editors. During the academic year of 2010-2011, she was a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Today Chee brings together the threads of her experience as curator of Arts and Design at TED Conferences and is based in NYC.