TUCSON FACILITY TO HOST MDA EXHIBIT

TUCSON, Ariz., July 1, 2005 – The Western National Parks Association headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., will display 11 selected works from the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Art Collection during the month of July.

“Transcending Barriers: Selections from the MDA Art Collection” runs from July 1-31 at the Tucson facility located at 12880 N. Vistoso Village Drive.

The Collection features artwork by children and adults across the country who challenge the obstacles imposed by neuromuscular diseases. The featured works include traditional acrylics and watercolors, as well as digitally enhanced media. In addition, 10 of the 11 pieces depict outdoor themes.

The Western National Parks Association operates bookstores in 63 national parks in 11 western states.

The WNPA moved into its new headquarters building on April 1, 2002. The 16,000-square-foot facility includes offices, a warehouse and the WNPA store. Prior to 2002, the office was located downtown at 221 N. Court Ave. in an adobe building erected in 1881. Before moving to Tucson, the headquarters was located in Globe.

The exhibit will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A special reception for the Collection will be held on Saturday, July 9, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission to the exhibit is free. For directions or more information, call (520) 622-6014.

“It’s a great honor to have a portion of our MDA Art Collection on display at the Western National Parks Association headquarters in Tucson,” MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. “We’re inspired by the talented children and adults who have contributed to the Collection and delighted to share their remarkable works with the people of Tucson.”

The Collection’s permanent home is MDA’s national headquarters in Tucson. Samples of the Collection also can be viewed at www.mda.org/commprog/art. 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 Collection currently comprises more than 300 works by artists aged 2 to 82 and represents all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each artist is affected by one of the neuromuscular diseases in the MDA program.

Selected art from the Collection has been exhibited at the Art Museum of Western Virginia in Roanoke; 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 more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. MDA serves area adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases through the Mucio F. Delgado Clinic at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson.

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

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