12:10PM Lawrence Rinder, BAM/PFA director and curator of Create, will lead an informative tour of this new exhibition that showcases the work of artists from Creative Growth Art Center, Creativity Explored, and the National Institute of Art and Disabilities (NIAD Art Center). Create is a major group exhibition presenting a selection of the most important works created over the past twenty years by artists involved with three pioneering non-profit organizations: Creativity Explored, Creative Growth Art Center, and the National Institute for Art and Disabilities Art Center (NIAD). These organizations were founded with the belief that exceptional creativity can emerge in anyone and they support the work of artists with developmental disabilities through a unique and highly successful approach to group studio practice. In individual and group shows, participating artists have challenged assumptions about the quality, character, and significance of work created by artists with disabilities. This major survey exhibition will bring well-deserved attention to this compelling work, sharing it with a broad audience and expanding on its impact on a range of renowned international artists. The exhibition will spark critical dialogue concerning the categories of contemporary art practice, especially the notion of “outsider art,” and challenge audiences to rethink the limitations of such categories. It will be clear why works by these artists have been increasingly recognized as a significant contribution to the field of contemporary art, both nationally and internationally, among artists, curators, critics, and collectors, as well as the broader cultural community, and are now in the permanent collections of prominent institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.