PENCIL SKETCH BY BANGOR ART TEACHER
ACCEPTED BY MDA ART COLLECTION

TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 15, 2003 — An intricate pencil sketch by Michelle Snyder of Bangor, Maine, has been accepted by the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Art Collection. Now in its 11th year, the Collection features artwork by people from across the country with neuromuscular diseases.

At one side of "The Elf," Snyder depicts an elf in a library, sitting with an open book. The rest of the piece offers glimpses of the magical worlds that can be found in books — from an undersea view, to a castle in the countryside, to a fanciful look at outer space.

Snyder, who has been drawing since age 3, studied graphic design and fashion design, and operated a graphics business with her husband, Jay. Today she's completing her fine arts associate's degree at the University College of Bangor. Snyder has also taught art in private schools and adult-education classes, and still teaches in her home studio in Bangor.

Snyder, 50, is affected by Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neuromuscular disease that results in muscle weakness, particularly in the hands and lower legs. "The Elf," the first comprehensive work she's done since receiving her diagnosis last year, took some 75 hours to complete.

"We're honored to welcome Michelle Snyder's work into the permanent MDA Art Collection," MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. "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 Snyder 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 some 300 works by artists aged 2 to 82 and represents all 50 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; Blackhawk Museum, Danville, Calif.; Fresno Metropolitan Museum; JFK Center at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.; Duluth Art Institute; Capital 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 a clinic for area adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

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