Art Ability
Call For Entry Open April 16 – July 3
The call for entry for the 30th Annual Art Ability Exhibition and Sale will officially open on April 16, 2025 and run through July 3, 2025. If you would like to receive an email when the call opens, please email artability@mlhs.org with your name and email and we will gladly add you to our list. More details and requirements regarding the call for entry can be found here.
Save the Date for Art Ability’s 30th Anniversary
Art Ability will celebrate its 30th year this fall and we want you to join us! Our preview cocktail reception and fundraising dinner will be held on November 8, 2025 at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital. The show will be open to the public November 9, 2025 through February 1, 2026. Please save the date and help us celebrate 30 years of Art Ability.
Sponsorship opportunities are available. Please contact bmrhfoundation@mlhs.org for more information.
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital's Art Ability
Art Ability: past and present
Art Ability offers a unique and accessible venue for artists with disabilities to display and sell their work. In addition to supporting Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital's vision and mission to advocate for those with disabilities in our community while advancing the artistic and financial success of artists with disabilities, the art in the exhibition is used daily to motivate and treat patients at the Hospital.
Art Ability began at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital in 1996 as an eight-week exhibit and sale of work by artists with disabilities. Now, in addition to the annual exhibitions, Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital is an actively collecting institution whose permanent collection of over 500 objects is on display throughout the year serving as a showcase for, and celebration of, artists with disabilities.
At its inception, the annual exhibition and sale included approximately 40 participating artists and 200 pieces of artwork displayed. The most recent exhibitions featured more than 400 pieces of art, sculpture and jewelry by 200 artists from around the globe.
Art Ability includes the following major components: a twelve-week annual, international juried exhibition and sale of art and fine crafts produced by individuals with disabilities held each fall; community outreach and education opportunities including satellite exhibitions and interactive demo days; our permanent collection of artwork and the incorporation of artwork into the patient experience; and a corporate art acquisition program.
In 2000, Art Ability was named a Keystone of Accessibility by Governor Tom Ridge and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, one of only 12 arts organizations so honored. In recognition of its efforts, Art Ability was a recipient of a 2009 Inglis Award for Continuing Excellence from the Inglis Foundation. This award honors the performance of non-profit organizations in the Philadelphia region that enhance the quality of life for people with physical disabilities.
Artists receive 80 percent of proceeds from the sale of their pieces, with 20 percent earmarked to support the Hospital's nationally-recognized patient treatment programs.
We welcome any artist interested in participating to contact us at artability@mlhs.org or call 484.596.5607 to provide your name and contact information for our mailing list.