Mary Payton Zajicek is one of nine inaugural winners of the Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities. This award, designed to support accessibility in the arts and celebrate the exceptional work of disabled Midwestern visual artists, has received an incredible response from the artistic community. Over 200 artists applied to receive funds, and a panel of seven reviewers narrowed the pool to nine finalists from across the Midwest.
“The intent in the creation of my artwork is simple, I am compelled to be expressing myself visually, and as such, I hope to be sharing something that brings joy and connects with the viewer. As a visually impaired artist, I am inspired by the unique window my brain insists I see the world through. I will never be able to represent adequately what it looks like inside of this brain. I will, however, be trying to convey the feeling of this unique experience for as long as I can. The results are bright, vibrant, color-saturated mixed media paintings. They are full of movement and dots, and soft forms.“
![An abstract painting with black, pink, and yellow colors. Thin lines and blobs of bright color overlap.](https://artsmidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/With_a_Side_of_Life__2023__Mixed_Media_on_Canvas-819x1024.jpg)
![An abstract painting with orange, yellow, and blue colors. Thin lines and blobs of bright color overlap.](https://artsmidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Today_Is_My_Day__2021__Mixed_Media_on_Gallery_Canvas-1-1024x826.jpg)
![An abstract painting with a lot of colors and shapes. Squares and circles intersect.](https://artsmidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Under_the_Ties__2022__Mixed_Media_on_Canvas-768x1024.jpg)
![An abstract painting with green and red colors. Circular forms and rectangular shapes intersect and meet.](https://artsmidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Knock_Three_Times_2019_Mixed_Media_On_Canvas-1-1024x493.jpg)
![An abstract painting with a lot of colors, including green, orange, red, and blue. A house can be vaguely seen in the middl of the painting.](https://artsmidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/If_My_Dreams_Had_Dreams__2021__Mixed_Media_on_Canvas-1024x768.jpg)