Home » PWS Rare Aware Art Share

PWS Rare Aware Art Share

The Rare Aware Art Share is an opportunity for individuals living with Prader-Willi syndrome to use art as a powerful form of expression, advocacy, and awareness. Through this annual virtual art experience, artists share their perspectives and lived experiences – helping others better understand life with PWS and amplifying voices that deserve to be seen and heard.

Each year, PWSA | USA will announce a new Art Share theme. The 2026 theme is Advocacy and Awareness, inviting artists living with PWS to explore what it means to speak up, tell their story, and help create understanding through creativity. (Scroll below to learn more about this year’s theme.)

Artwork submissions will be accepted January 15–March 15, 2026.
Submissions are accepted in digital format only.

Artwork will be showcased throughout May (PWS Awareness Month) across PWSA | USA platforms, and at our 2026 D.C. Fly-In event, helping extend each artist’s voice beyond the PWS community and into broader conversations around inclusion, education, and advocacy.

This is a wonderful opportunity for individuals with PWS to create art as a way to share their voice, raise awareness, and help inspire meaningful change.

Between January 15 - March 15, 2026, we are collecting artwork for theme, PWS Advocacy and Awareness. Create your artwork using the prompts:

1. How do you advocate for yourself?

2. How do you bring awareness to your community about PWS?

Advocacy is the act of supporting a cause and speaking up for what matters.
Awareness is helping others understand a situation, experience, or reality.

For this year’s Rare Aware Art Share, we invite individuals living with PWS to show what advocacy and awareness look like in their lives – big or small, public or personal.

Artwork might reflect:

– Sharing about PWS with a class, friends, or community
– Speaking at an event or using social media to spread awareness
– Creating art, jewelry, or items to share with friends, family, or at events
– Advocating for yourself (as an individual living with PWS) or on behalf of others living with PWS
– Speaking with elected officials in Washington, D.C., at the state-level, or in a community

There is no “right” way to advocate or raise awareness. Every voice matters, and every action counts.

Where Artwork Will Be Shared

Artwork will be featured:

– On PWSA | USA’s social media platforms throughout May in honor of PWS Awareness Month
– In Washington, D.C. during the 2026 PWSA | USA D.C. Fly-In (May 4–6)

Who Can Participate

We welcome anyone living with PWS, no matter where they live and whether or not they plan to attend the 2026 D.C. Fly-In. Artists who have participated in past Rare Aware Art Share themes are also encouraged to submit again. Once artwork is complete, please submit a digital image using the form below. Art has the power to educate, inspire, and create change!

PWS Rare Aware Art Share Submission Form

Email*
Artist's name:
- Artist prefers to remain anonymous
Artist's age:*
Country artist lives in:*
(If living in the U.S.) State artist lives in:*
If you live outside the United States, please scroll to the end of this dropdown list and select "not applicable."
Please select the art medium you are submitting:*
If you selected "other," please explain:
Which prompt did you choose?
Explain the artwork you shared (How did you create it? What materials did you use? If you included a person or people in your artwork, who are they?)
If you need more space for your answer, please type your answer in a word document and upload it to one of the "File Upload" buttons below.
What inspired you to create your artwork?
What things do you do to advocate for yourself?
What things do you do to bring awareness to your community?
What is something that is challenging about PWS?
How do you want people to see you? / What do you want people to know about you?
Upload a digital version of your art piece(s) below.
Please take a photo of your artwork, no matter what art medium you used, and upload the image to a "File Upload" button below. If you are submitting more than one art piece (up to three pieces accepted), use the additional "File Upload" buttons to add them. If you have any questions or trouble uploading, please reach out to us at communications@pwsausa.org.
File Upload*
File Upload
File Upload
Rare Aware Art Share Consent*
I agree to PWSA | USA's Media Consent Policy
By clicking here, I hereby authorize and grant my full permission to Prader-Willi Syndrome Association | USA (PWSA | USA) to collect, use and store any of my personal information, including, without limitation, my likeness, image, artwork, voice, and/or statements (“the personal information”) for posting on the PWSA | USA website or social media pages, to use for printed publications or for other purposes that may convey my identity (names may be used unless otherwise specified), diagnosis and other information.

I acknowledge that:

1. I have the authority to grant this authorization and I hereby waive any rights of privacy and other cognizable claims which I may have in connection with the use of the personal information on the PWSA | USA website or social media pages, in printed or other publications, or for other purposes. I understand that this consent is intended to release from liability all personnel of PWSA | USA and is valid unless and until revoked as described below.
2. I understand that the personal information provided to PWSA | USA may reveal sensitive health information about me, including health conditions, diagnosis, and treatment.
3. I understand that any personal information I share with PWSA | USA may be included in various media, including, without limitation, print and digital media, audio and video recordings, photographs, and written statements.
4. I agree that PWSA | USA shall own worldwide copyright and other intellectual property rights in any work product incorporating the personal information. Under this authorization, I assign and transfer to PWSA | USA full worldwide right, title, interest in and ownership of all copyright and other intellectual property rights in such work product without payment of any fees, royalties or other compensation.
5. I understand that I may revoke this authorization at any time by sending an email to PWSA | USA at info@pwsausa.org which identifies the information covered by the revocation. Upon receipt of this notice, PWSA | USA will endeavor to stop using this information within a reasonable time after receipt of such notice.
6. I acknowledge that I am signing this authorization voluntarily and that I am not required to sign this authorization as a condition of eligibility to receive any benefits or services from PWSA | USA. I understand that I may refuse to sign this form.
7. If I have any questions about my privacy rights under this authorization, I understand I may contact PWSA | USA by sending an email to: info@pwsausa.org . The terms of this authorization are not linked to any other agreement, nor to the term of any other agreement, and the terms of this authorization will survive until a request for revocation is submitted as described above.

PWS Rare Aware Art Share FAQs

Who can submit artwork for the PWS Rare Aware Art Share

Anyone diagnosed with Prader-Willi syndrome in any part of the world is welcome to submit. We will accept submissions from all ages and all skill levels.

What type of artwork can I submit?

Digital submissions only please. Create your art, take a photo, then submit the image to PWSA | USA’s website form (above). For text art, like poems or song lyrics, please submit a word document rather than a photo, unless they are handwritten.

To respond to the prompts, artists may decide to:
• Paint a picture
• Use crayons, markers, or pencils to draw and color a picture
• Create a sculpture out of clay or any molding materials
• Create a video
• Take a picture
• Knit, crochet, embroidery, cross stitch
• Make a collage (use pictures of you, or pictures you cut from a magazine)
• Make a mandala
• Write a short story or play script
• Write a poem
• Write a song and send us the lyrics

How many art pieces can I submit?

Please limit the amount of artwork submitted to three pieces.

Can I submit outside of the theme?

We ask that artists submit for the specific theme only during that theme’s submission period. We will not accept artwork on a past theme once the submission period is over.

How will these art pieces be displayed?

Submissions will be shared on our social media platforms, Pulse newsletter, and website.

They will also be displayed at the 2026 D.C. Fly-In. They will not be displayed with the intention of making a profit, but will be displayed freely as a tool to spread awareness, education, and appreciation for PWS.

We hope to share and display every submission that we receive. However, please note that submissions must be appropriate for an all ages audience. Submissions will be reviewed by PWSA | USA Staff and Board members and our discretion will be used to determine the eligibility of artwork for display.

How do I submit artwork?

Art submissions can be uploaded to PWSA | USA’s Rare Aware Art Share submission form (above).

If you have any trouble uploading your artwork to this form, please email your artwork to communications@pwsausa.org. We also ask that you fill out the few questions included on the submission form, as your answers will help explain your artwork, and in turn, spread awareness for Prader-Willi syndrome.

Do you work in a doctors office, group home, clinical trial location, or another space where individuals with PWS gather?

Here’s how YOU can help!

Individuals with PWS spend a lot of time in waiting rooms, whether for therapies, doctor appointments, blood draws, x-rays, or clinical trials. If you work in a space where these individuals may be waiting, we have something for you. Our Rare Aware Art Share worksheet will help spread the word about this program and offer a positive activity for patients’ time spent in the waiting room. We also encourage group homes in our network to print and share this worksheet!

The instructions are on the worksheet document, which can be downloaded at the button below. We are not asking you to collect these pages, simply to hand them to your families and/or individuals with PWS. We would be grateful if you are willing to provide crayons, however, pen and pencil drawings will be accepted.

These pieces will be gathered from individuals with PWS from around the world and displayed at various events, including upcoming 2026 D.C. Fly-In, and on our social media platforms.

We are grateful for your support of our loved ones with PWS, and for helping spread the word about this exciting project!