Talking Space in the Art Marketplace

Presented by Creativity Explored

---

---

What gaps exist in the modern art marketplace?  Which artists are overlooked, and why?  Who are these artists and where do they come from? And finally, which contemporary art venues are opening their spaces for these voices to be heard? 

Join us to learn the answers to these and many more provocative questions about the artistic contributions of people with disabilities, who are rightly taking space in today’s modern art marketplace. Beyond private folk art collections, art by people with developmental disabilities is now more commonly found in museum collections, gallery showrooms, architecture and interiors projects, collaborative commercial products, auction houses, and even large-scale public art installations.   

Organizations like Creativity Explored have been at the forefront of a movement to promote the work of disabled artists and raise their status as art world influencers. This visual arts program and its sister organizations are often described as magical laboratories for aesthetic exploration.  Other artists are magnetically drawn to what happens in the Creativity Explored studios, and as a result, the art market is increasingly taking notice.

In celebration of Creativity Explored’s 40th anniversary working in tandem with the Bay Area professional arts community, this panel will acknowledge the patrons who helped artists with developmental disabilities take their rightful space in different aspects of the art market as well as evaluate other ways developmentally disabled people can influence society at large through their creativity. Joining the discussion will be prominent representatives from the professional arts community who will further assess how to make space, and in turn, make the art marketplace more inclusive.