CENTRAL NEW YORK — From Vincent van Gogh’s swirling, colorful Post-Impressionist paintings to Frida Kahlo’s striking self-portraits to modern activists and authors like Keah Brown and Alice Wong, throughout history many disabled creators have used art and literature to reflect on and rejoice in their lives, their successes and their struggles.

ARISE, a nonprofit independent living center and advocacy organization that serves Central New York, offers people with disabilities an outlet for their paintings, poems, sculptures and more in the annual publication of UNIQUE: ARISE Art & Literary Magazine. ARISE is seeking submissions for the 2021 edition of UNIQUE, which marks the 21st year of the publication. Selected works also will be on display at the Everson Museum in Syracuse.

“Artists are really thrilled and excited to be selected and included in UNIQUE,” said Tania S. Anderson, CEO of ARISE. “For many folks, this is the first opportunity their art has been selected by a jury for a venue like the Everson.”

Last fall, despite the pandemic, the Everson was still able to display the 2020 selections for UNIQUE, but ARISE and its artists had to forgo the in-person reception and instead celebrate their creations from afar. It is still too early to tell if the artists will be able to gather for a reception this year, but the exhibit and magazine will go on as planned.

“UNIQUE is one of the coolest things that we do. I hope that folks submit their work and keep their eye out for the exhibit later this year,” Anderson said.

Artists also have the opportunity to sell their work, and some submissions will appear in ARISE’s calendar in the future.

Anderson said ARISE receives more than 75 submissions each year from artists of all ages who have physical disabilities, mental illness, or developmental disorders like Down syndrome or autism.

“There’s no age limit at all,” she said. “We just ask that artists self-identify with having a disability or mental health diagnosis.”

As the name of the magazine suggests, the experience of each disabled person is unique, as is the way they choose to express it. Artists are asked to write a short biographical statement about themselves, their inspirations and what their work means to them.

“It’s going to be different for every person,” Anderson said. “We publish a thumbnail of each artist and how the work connects to their disability and their life.”

Many of the 2020 submissions related to life during the pandemic, Anderson said.

“There were a number of pieces, particularly in the poetry, that reflected the isolation and the fear that resonated during the pandemic,” she said.

Each year, ARISE serves about 7,000 people with disabilities in Onondaga, Oswego, Madison, Cayuga, and Seneca counties. The organization’s services have continued without interruption during the pandemic.

“ARISE is an essential business. We never closed,” Anderson said. “We have a very large mental health service and within a week we converted everything to telehealth. … We never stopped delivering services.”

ARISE’s offices remained open for emergency walk-ins and delivery of personal protective equipment to clients as well.

From the rise of remote jobs and schooling to touchless bathroom fixtures, the pandemic has forced much of the world to adopt accommodations that disabled people were fighting for before COVID. Anderson said she hopes those adaptations are here to stay for everyone’s sake.

“My daughter is a remote learner and she uses [Microsoft] Teams. She’s able to hear, but it’s easier for her to put the closed captioning on to follow the teacher — that’s an accommodation,” Anderson said. “One in five of us have a disability. Not all of us are born with it; some of us acquire it.”

Click here to download the UNIQUE 2021 submission packet. The submission deadline is April 19. For visual art pieces, take three to four photographs of your artwork and email them in PDF, JPG or PNG format or mail the photos. Literary submissions must be in Word Document (DOC) or PDF format. Send submissions and the completed submission packet by email to [email protected] or by mail to UNIQUE Magazine c/o ARISE 635 James St., Syracuse, NY 13203. The UNIQUE editorial board will inform artists of their selections May 21.