People With MS Invited to Submit Their Art for 2021 MSAA Art Showcase

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are invited to submit their artwork to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America‘s (MSAA) annual Art Showcase. The online event aims to share the work of artists with MS and their life stories.

Applications are opened till Dec. 14 and are restricted to people, 18 or older, who have MS and live in the U.S. Applications from MSAA’s workers or associated companies, as well as members and their relatives, will not be accepted.

Participants may submit up to three pieces of art, including paintings (in oil, watercolor, acrylic, or pastels), pencil drawings, and digital artwork (graphic design or photography). Sculpture, pottery, fabric, and other types of 3D artwork will not be accepted.

A short bio (up to 150 words) about the applicant’s interest in art and how MS affects his or her life should also be sent. Additional rules and an online form are available here. People may print the form instead, fill it out, and email it to [email protected].

The showcase will go on MSAA’s website in March 2021, which is MS Awareness Month. The best works will be highlighted during the year and will be part of the 2022 MSAA Art Showcase Calendar.

Started in 2009, the MSAA Art Showcase has 10 editions. Previous artworks may be visited on MSAA’s online galleries.

Last year, 45 artists were selected, and their art is part of the 2020 MSAA Art Showcase. Jen Dolan, one of the participants and artist of the month for November, was diagnosed with MS earlier this year.

“I have likely had MS for more than a decade but was misdiagnosed for a long time,” Dolan wrote. “I went on SSDI [Social Security Disability Insurance] more than two years ago. Prior to going on disability, I was involved with many area non-profit groups. I cannot be involved with these non-profits at the same level as I had been.”

Dolan found in art a way to help other people who, like her, are facing the same challenges.

“I returned to creating art when I had to stop working,” she wrote. “I now donate my art to be auctioned off for charity or use my talents to create promotional and awareness materials for area organizations. This is how I am still able to help out.”

Her artwork, titled “Eagle,” was created with alcohol ink sketch markers and a paint pen in white.

“Recently, I have been sketching birds that winter in Wisconsin, where I live,” she wrote.

The public may help Dolan and other patients by sending an electronic card showing an original work by the artists of the month. The initiative helps promote awareness about MS and MSAA.