There’s a fine line to cross when it comes to identifying who you are as someone with a disability and not feeling as if your disability is entirely who you are. I read a journal prompt for those with chronic illness that said the following: What parts of my identity remain completely true despite my…
Category: Disability
Empowerment Through Art: Visible Racine Event on September 19 at The Inclusive Bean
Emma Widmar, the ArtRoot Writer-in-Residence, hosts the community project Visible Racine to raise awareness about disabilities. On September 19, 2026, she invites individuals identifying as disabled to participate in a photography event at The Inclusive Bean. Participants will share self-descriptions, showcasing their identities beyond disability, fostering community understanding and support.
Dear Racine,
Emma Rose Widmar announces her role as the 21st ArtRoot Writer in Residence, focusing on Racine and disability awareness over the next six months. With a history in journalism, she aims to foster empathy and connection through impactful storytelling. Emma reflects on her roots in Racine and her experiences with chronic health conditions, driving her passion to advocate for understanding and unity within the community.
OBSERVATIONS #18 – 12.24.24
I Must Do To Be I must do to be, Things move, change waits, Words interrupt, hands interpret, Bodies heal, thoughts roam. Before you, after me, Sands drift to form dunes and valleys, Swirling shapes shift with times motion, And like water, are not silent. Obedient children must speak, They play guard over brown uneven…
OBSERVATIONS #15 – 11.16.24
AUTUMN RED Before hibernal cold, after vernal heat, as summer comes to close, More darkness than daylight soon will cover our planet host. Radiant leaves, ripe fruit, fall from trees. Celebrate! Rhythmic cycles of life to death, grow naturally to decompose. Earth’s tilted path, Autumn’s angles unequal in length, Sunlight threads scattered perceptions, Run fingers…
OBSERVATIONS #14 – 11.10.24
Cast A NetCast a net into the sky,Toss into the white not blue,Sky that feels like water looks.Cast a net into the sky,Casually pull apart its soft conceal,Uncover fields of pearlescent fluffs washed in light.Cast a net into the sky,It’s weight separates the violet flower from pod,Releasing milky sap, the recipe for clouds of butterflies.Cast…
OBSERVATION #11-10.26.24
My Musings on Nobody’s Perfect with Anecdotes by B, C, J, L, M,Like butterflies, words escaped the cocoon of the story teller’s memory,Like fairy tales, transformed and captured under my pen. mp Meet M – Growing up in a family with three brothers, all went to the same religious school. Teacher identified M as their…
OBSERVATIONS #10 – 10.19.24
About the Arts and Humanities Happy National Arts and Humanities month! The White House issued its yearly proclaim that states: “The arts and humanities bring people together and show us that we have more in common than we have differences – helping us see each other, understand one another, and unite in common cause. Our…
OBSERVATIONS #8 – 9.21.24
About Me Alone, only the distant street sounds penetrate my thoughts, Only the skylight’s my mood, Only coffee, cooling in my favorite mug, Waits within reach. I sit at the old family table of notorious memories, 100 years past, metal and glass sculpture stood proud, Some made by Daz’s hand, Others found at Chicago junk…
OBSERVATIONS #6 – 9.10.24
I write not just as an observer, but as a fellow wayfarer: watching signposts, following an open map, facing the rising sun to find my bearings. North to my left, South on my right, West at my back. As the sun rises over Lake Michigan, so does my free state of mind. By rejecting the…
ArtRoot Writer-In-Residence 