The museum established the Contemporary Center in 1997 with the conviction that the paintings, sculpture, and built environments of self-taught artists meet the appreciation, study, and exhibition accorded to works of art in the cultural mainstream. Self-taught artists, with special reference to those highly gifted individuals who are identified with the field of art brut or “outsider” art, have created a powerful and moving but frequently unacknowledged body of work that is essential to a full understanding of the art and culture of the world. The Contemporary Center regularly presents lectures, symposia, and special events, including the annual Outsider Art Weekend programming. More than 250 contemporary works in the museum’s collection can be viewed in the Image Gallery.

The study of self-taught artists and their work has become a mature, recognized field in art history. Understanding that it has been cultivated by a community of artists, collectors, dealers, galleries, museums, and scholars for many decades, the museum’s Contemporary Center celebrates outstanding achievements from these constituencies with its Visionary Award, presented each year during the Outsider Art Fair.

2011: Sam Farber. 2010: The Outsider Art Fair and Sanford L. Smith.
2009: Raw Vision magazine and John Maizels. 2008: Phyllis Kind.

Uncommon Artists: A Series of Cameo Talks—The Anne Hill Blanchard Symposium is held each winter during the Outsider Art Fair. At the forefront of introducing underappreciated artists to a larger public, this annual program examines creativity within a personal, aesthetic, and cultural context. Organized by Lee Kogan.

2011: Clementine Hunter Connoisseurship, by Thomas Whitehead • Michael Patterson-Carver, by Laurel Gitlen • Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, by Brett Littman • Gordon Brinckle, by Kendall Messick. 2010: Dorothy Iannone, by Jarrett Gregory • Self-taught artists and the Museum of Modern Art, by Esther Adler • Timothy Wehrle, by Shari Cavin • George Widener, by Scott Ogden. 2009: Ernest “Popeye” Reed, by Mike Noland and Jeff Way • Janet Sobel, by Gary Snyder • Henry Speller, by Edward M. Puchner • Jimmy Lee Sudduth, by Susan Mitchell Crawley. 2008: The History of the Prinzhorn-Collection, by Thomas Röske • Ed Nelson, by Peter Hastings Falk • Herbert Singleton, by Andy P. Antippas • Albert Zahn, by Leslie Umberger. 2007: Felipe Jesús Consalvos, by John Ollman • Current Residents of Art/Brut Center, Gugging, Austria, by Nina Katschnig • Charley, Noah, and Hazel Kinney, by Adrian Swain • Mártin Ramírez, by Víctor M. Espinosa. 2006: Roy Ferdinand, by Regenia Perry • Donald Mitchell, by Cheryl Rivers • Martin Thompson, by Stuart E. Shepherd • Carlo Zinelli, by Phyllis Kind. 2005: Collage and Photography-based Artworks, by John Turner • Thornton Dial Sr., by Jane Livingston • Louis Monza, by Susan C. Larsen • Domenico Zindato, by Edward M. Gomez. 2004: Eddie Arning, by Pam Sachant • Autistic Spectrum Artists, by Pam Rogers and Margaret Bodell • Sister Gertrude Morgan, by William Fagaly • Christine Sefolosha, by Roger Cardinal. 2003: Arthur Bispo do Rosário, by Beate Echols • Charting Religious Texts, by Carol Crown • Bernard Goodman on himself • Wilhelm van Genk, by Colin Rhodes. 2002: Curtiss Cuffie and Anthony Domingues, by Tom Patterson • Emanuel Navratil and Josef Karl Radler, by Jane Kallir • Joseph Yoakum, by Mark Pascale • Anna Zemánková, by Annie Carlano. 2001: Henry Darger, by Michael Bonesteel • Charles A.A. Dellschau, by Tracy Baker-White • Bessie Harvey, by Jenifer P. Borum • Renée Stout on herself. 2000: Felipe Archuleta, by Michael Hall • Ronald Lockett, by Paul Arnett • Kevin Blythe Sampson, by Brooke Davis Anderson • August Walla, by Johann Feilacher. 1999: Creating the Outsider, by John Beardsley • Nicholas Herrera, by Chuck Rosenak • Eddie Kendrick, by Alice Yelen • Edgar Tolson, by Julia Ardery. 1998: James Castle, by John Ollman • Nek Chand, by John Maizels • Chris Hipkiss, by Richard Klein • Grandma Moses, by Jane Kallir. 1997: Sam Doyle, by Regenia Perry • Ken Grimes, by Roger Ricco and Frank Maresca • Sister Gertrude Morgan, by William A. Fagaly • Prison Art, by Phyllis Kornfeld. 1996: Joseph Ferdinand Cheval and Le Palais Idéal, by Barbara Cate • Ralph Fasanella, by Paul D’Ambrosio • Film Premiere of Reverend Howard Finster: The Sacred Vision • Keith Goodhart, by Randall Morris • Jamaican Intuitives Everald Brown, Leonard Daley, and Ras Dizzy, by Wayne Cox. 1995: William Blayney, by David Owsley • James Hampton, by Lynda Roscoe Hartigan • Danielle Jacquis, by Ann Oppenhimer • Seraphiné Louis, by Roger Cardinal • Achilles G. Rizzoli, by Bonnie Grossman. 1994: Chelo Amézcua, by Mickey Cartin • Emery Blagdon, by Dan Dryden • Thornton Dial Sr., by Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) • Grottos and Environments of the Midwest, by Lisa Stone • William Hawkins, by Gary J. Schwindler • Lonnie Holley, by Bruce Lineker. 1993: Martín Ramírez, J.B. Murry, and Rosemary Koczÿ, by Phyllis Kind • Reflections from a Collector, by Herbert Waide Hemphill Jr. • Ellis Ruley, by Glenn Smith • Jon Serl, by Didi Barrett • La Tinaia San Salvi, by Dana Mensi • Mose Tolliver, by Lee Kogan • Visionary Environments Outside the United States, by John Maizels • Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, by Russell Bowman.

2011: “Reading Ephemera (and Fairies) in the Artworks of Henry Darger”—Anna Panszczyk, 2010 Henry Darger Study Center Fellow. 2010: “Transsexual and White Slave Fantasies: Henry Darger’s Intertextualization”—Jaimy Mann, 2009 Henry Darger Study Center Fellow, and “The Art Student: Henry Darger and A Step-Ladder to Painting”—Kevin Miller, 2009 Henry Darger Study Center Fellow. 2009: “Missing Girls in the Art of Henry Darger”—Mary Trent, 2008 Henry Darger Study Center Fellow. 2008: Artist’s Talk—Grayson Perry. 2007: “Purvis of Overtown”—film screening introduced by Bill Arnett. 2006: “The Kingdom of the Gods and Goddesses: Nek Chand”—Cheryl Rivers. 2005: “In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger”—film screening and discussion with the filmmaker, Jessica Yu. 2004: “The World of Sister Gertrude Morgan”—William A. Fagaly. 2003: “Mutual Obsessions: Three Cartoonists Look at Darger”—Gary Panter, Art Spiegelman, and Chris Ware, with Dan Nadel. 2002: “The Aronberg Mystery: Murder in the Realms of the Unreal”—John M. MacGregor. 2001: “Aspects of Henry Darger”—Mac Wellman, Monroe A. Denton, and John S. Gordon. 2000: “The Architecture of Madness”—John M. MacGregor.