PAINTING BY FRESNO ARTIST
ACCEPTED BY MDA ART COLLECTION

TUCSON, Ariz., July 6, 2001 - A painting by Jessica Keller of Fresno, Calif., has been accepted by the Muscular Dystrophy Association"s Art Collection. The Collection features artwork by people from across the country with neuromuscular diseases.

"Flowerbox Window #2" by Jessica Keller

Keller"s "Flowerbox Window #2" is a combination watercolor and oil pastel painting of a window flowerbox literally overflowing with brightly colored flowers. Keller created this piece as part of her ongoing series, "Serene Artistry."

Keller is a self-taught artist who works in a variety of media and delights in combining different styles into a single piece. Her work has been exhibited broadly. Other samples can be viewed on her Web site at www.geocities.com/sereneartistry/.

Keller, 34, is affected by central core disease, which is characterized by muscle weakness affecting her upper and lower extremities.

"We"re honored to have such a graceful painting by Jessica Keller in the permanent MDA Art Collection," said MDA Senior Vice President and Executive Director Robert Ross. "Her contribution to our Collection will undoubtedly delight all who see it as it travels to galleries and museums as part of special exhibits of the Collection."

The new addition by Keller will be exhibited at MDA"s national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., and will be included in MDA Art Collection traveling exhibits. The Collection was established in 1992 to focus attention on the achievements of artists with disabilities, and to emphasize that physical disability is no barrier to creativity.

The permanent Collection currently comprises more than 260 works by artists ages 2 to 82 and represents 48 states. Each artist is affected by one of the neuromuscular diseases in the MDA program.

Selected art from the Collection has been exhibited at the Dallas Museum of Art; Cork Gallery at Lincoln Center and Forbes Magazine Galleries in New York; Tucson Museum of Art; Bishop Museum in Honolulu; Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center; Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art; Los Angeles Children"s Museum; University of California-Berkeley and Fresno Metropolitan Museum; Duluth Art Institute; Capitol Children"s Museum, Washington, D.C.; and the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, Mich.

MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. MDA maintains clinics for area adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases at Valley Children"s Hospital in Fresno and at HealthSouth Bakersfield Rehab Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif.

The Association"s programs are funded almost entirely by individual private contributors.