This compendium engages art critics, art educators, and art therapists in a conversation about artists with disabilities in non-traditional settings. For the sake of clarity, this population is subsumed under the term 'Outsider.' The idiosyncratic, often passionate and self-taught nature of 'Outsider' art has captured the interest of the members of these fields, posing provocative questions about the social order and its inherent exclusion. The contributors to this volume hope to arrive at not further division, but a continuum suitable for the human condition.

In the past few decades, making art has been used in special education classrooms as a way of offering psychic freedom, if not bodily freedom, by providing a partial antidote to the social problems generated in an impoverished environment. The art that has emerged has redeemed the inevitable isolation and loss and become its driving force. Wexler argues that the arts are most effective when they are in service of social growth, critical to identity formation. This book balances theory with practical knowledge and offers critical research that challenges the biases regarding the nature of art and education. It includes case studies, examples of the author's strategies with children and art students, as well as a chapter devoted to lesson plans.

In the past few decades, making art has been used in special education classrooms as a way of offering psychic freedom, if not bodily freedom, by providing a partial antidote to the social problems generated in an impoverished environment. The art that has emerged has redeemed the inevitable isolation and loss and become its driving force. Wexler argues that the arts are most effective when they are in service of social growth, critical to identity formation. This book balances theory with practical knowledge and offers critical research that challenges the biases regarding the nature of art and education. It includes case studies, examples of the author's strategies with children and art students, as well as a chapter devoted to lesson plans.

By focusing on children and adults with disabilities, each contributor offers critical research which challenges the non-transferable divide between us and them , encouraging art teachers, therapists, critics, and general readers alike to uncover their biases regarding the nature of art and education.