Those people who tell me that I'm going to hell while while they are going to heaven somehow make me very glad that we're going to separate destinations

A lot of people just stumble in and they're not aware of what they're looking at. When they find out, they're kind of surprised and say, 'Wow, this is really good.' The fact of the matter is a good portion of these artists went to art school. They're trained and it shows. There may an expectation that work won't be as good as your average gallery show because of the population producing it, but I think people are generally surprised and impressed.

These people are not able to work, and it's validating to have someone buy your work. A couple of the artists have aspirations to build themselves a studio to do more work, full- or part-time. The talent is there to do it.

Some are coming to the show specifically because of the subject matter. They're interested in issues pertaining to both art and mental illness and ways people can express themselves. So the qualifier is the attraction.

There's a danger of exploitation when you get the galleries and museums involved and it's being sensationalized. I don't feel that's what Arline is doing with this show at all. This population is isolated. They are outside the mainstream, but the whole point of this show is to create a bridge, which sort of flies in the face of the whole concept of outsider art.

Martin is unbelievably driven, ... Murray always openly admired him, but Martin himself would sometimes put in hours that other people would find frightening. When you consider these two facts, it's no surprise that he has got to where he is at the club.