Press Release
The Someone Like Me Art Awards 2026 launches today, inviting primary and special schools across Ireland to explore disability awareness, inclusion and belonging through creativity. Sponsored by the National Disability Authority, this year’s All Together theme encourages pupils to share their ideas about friendship, kindness, accessibility and how everyone can feel included in school and community life.
Previous pupil artwork offers a powerful insight into how children already navigate disability and difference. Entries have featured wheelchair users playing sport with friends, classrooms and communities designed so everyone can take part, and messages such as: “We are all different, but still the same.” Their work is a reminder that pupils are not only learning about inclusion, but offering adults a clear and creative perspective on what it can look like in everyday life.
At a time when communities are looking for practical ways to strengthen understanding and belonging, the Awards create space for pupils to lead the conversation. Their artwork offers teachers, parents and adults a reminder that inclusion often begins with everyday acts of empathy, curiosity and making room for one another.
Every primary and special school in the country will receive a school pack, including a staffroom poster and QR code to enter. Free teacher and pupil resources, developed by primary school teachers and linked to SPHE and Wellbeing, are also available at www.someonelikemeartawards.ie.
The Awards give teachers a practical and flexible way to bring conversations about disability, difference and belonging into the classroom. Reflecting wider developments, this year’s competition seeks to move conversations beyond awareness-raising to deeper understanding of disabled people and their lives. Pupils can respond in a variety of art forms, using their own words, ideas and images to explore what inclusion means to them.
Dr Aideen Hartney, Director of the National Disability Authority, said:
“The Someone Like Me Art Awards give schools a positive, practical way to start meaningful conversations about disability, difference and belonging. It is always powerful to see the clarity, creativity and imagination pupils bring to these ideas. The All Together theme celebrates that perspective and invites school communities, and adults more broadly, to learn from it. We are looking forward to seeing how pupils across Ireland bring the theme to life through their creativity.”
Almost all forms of art, including drawings, paintings, sculptures and 3D installations, are welcome. Winning schools will share over €1,000 worth of prizes, while finalists will be invited to showcase and speak about their work at the Awards ceremony in January 2027.
Schools can access resources, submit entries online and find out more at www.someonelikemeartawards.ie. Entries close on 10 December 2026.
ENDS
For media enquiries, please contact:
Luke Reilly
Jailbird Communications
luke@hellojailbird.com