PHOTOGRAPHS BY SOUTH CAROLINA ARTIST
ACCEPTED BY MDA ART COLLECTION

"Sea Lions, Galapagos, 2002"

TUCSON, Ariz., Feb. 24, 2004 — Two photographs by wildlife photographer Angelo Sciulli of Lancaster, S.C., have been accepted by the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Art Collection. Now in its 13th year, the Collection features artwork by people from across the country with neuromuscular diseases.

“Sea Lions, Galapagos, 2002” and “Rhinoceros, Kenya, 2001” are two of Sciulli’s beautiful wildlife photographs taken during his travels.

A retired director of chemical research for Springs Industries’ Research and Development Center in Fort Mill, S.C., Sciulli began a second career as a nature and wildlife photographer and writer. His work has been in such publications as Nature Photographer Magazine, Montana Magazine, Wheelin’ Sportsman, MDA’s national magazine Quest and Sandlapper. His prints have also appeared in exhibits at the National Press Club, the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C.

His photographs are seen in a traveling exhibit called Challenging Nature Photography, and some of his works are on display at the MDA/ALS Center at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C.

Sciulli, 57, received a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 1998. A disease of the parts of the nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement, ALS causes muscles to become weak and then nonfunctional.

Sciulli is ambulatory with help but the disease has taken his ability to speak.

“We welcome Angelo Sciulli’s works into the permanent MDA Art Collection,” MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. “His contributions to our Collection will undoubtedly captivate all who see them as they travel to galleries and museums as part of special exhibits of the Collection.”

"Rhinoceros, Kenya, 2001"

The new additions by Sciulli will be displayed at MDA’s national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz.. They’ll also 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 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; JFK Center at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.; Fresno Metropolitan Museum; 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. In addition to its ALS center in Charlotte, MDA maintains clinics serving area residents with any of over 40 neuromuscular diseases at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C.; Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia, S.C.; and Spartanburg Neurological Service in Spartanburg.

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