Quick! Give Everyone a Paintbrush and Some Oil Paints and Call Them Artists!

This book is critical of art programs created for the purpose of providing employment for people with disabilities. Based on the premise that the purpose of art is expression, the author questions the efficacy of programs that seem to suggest that any individual with a developmental disabilities has an innate talent to produce commercial art. The author offers an acceptable alternative to these "commercial" art programs: real art therapy that gives participants a means of self-expression and skill development. These therapy sessions may or may not reveal artistic talent in some of those participating. Also, the author states that regardless of the level of any talent discovered, it is the individual's choice whether or not to develop that talent.