Arts Midwest is now accepting applications for the 2025 Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities, an award supporting accessibility in the arts and celebrating the work of disabled Midwestern visual artists.
- What: The Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities is a $3,000 award that recognizes disabled visual artists in our region, celebrates their efforts, and encourages their future work.
- Who: We invite mid-career 2D and 3D visual artists with disabilities to apply for this award.
- When: This award application will close at 11:59 pm CDT on July 10, 2025, with awardees notified in August 2025.
- Where: Individuals must live in the Arts Midwest region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the Native Nations that share this geography.
There is no cost to apply.
About the Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities
Please note that we acknowledge both identity first and person first framing of disability identity. When we use the phrase “disabled artists,” we intend to align with the Social Model of Disability understanding that people are disabled by environmental and societal barriers.
Visual artists with disabilities are doing incredible work around the Midwest. The Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities recognizes and celebrates their efforts and encourages their future work.
It also advocates for the arts being viable employment for disabled people, which is often overlooked by funding agencies supporting people with disabilities.
From 2023-2025 years, this award will recognize 27 individuals (9 per year) in the Arts Midwest region of: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio or the Native Nations that share this geography.
Each awardee will receive a $3,000 check award. Total awards across the region will equal $27,000 per year. There are no requirements for how awarded funds are used, though awardees are encouraged to use it toward growing their art career. Awardees’ submitted work will be featured on the Arts Midwest website.
Established in 2022, this award is supported by the James Edward Scherbarth and Paul Francis Mosley Giving Fund. The award was created in honor of the late James Edward Scherbarth, an award-winning visual artist, visual arts teacher, and advocate of arts access who lived and worked in Minnesota. Jim believed that creativity lives in everyone, and he dedicated his career to helping people express themselves through the visual arts.
Explore Past Awardees
Learn more about the nine artists that received the 2024 Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities.
Read the Application Guidelines
Learn more about the Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities, eligibility requirements, and how to upload and submit your application.
Have questions about the Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities?
We’re happy to answer any questions you have about the Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities. Be sure to check out our FAQs, and if you’d like to talk to us we’re just an email or a phone call away.
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