ARTWORK BY DUE WEST TEEN
ACCEPTED INTO MDA ART COLLECTION

“Sunset Dip”

TUCSON, Ariz., March 28, 2008 – A multimedia creation by former MDA National Goodwill Ambassador Luke Christie has been accepted into the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Art Collection, which features artwork by people from across the country with neuromuscular diseases.

Christie's "Sunset Dip" shows a boy peaking out of the water, enjoying a summer afternoon dip in a pool during a beautiful sunset. His wheelchair is parked on the grass near the pool.

Christie served as MDA's national goodwill ambassador in 2006 and 2007, and appeared with his family on the national broadcast of the MDA Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for three years. He continues his MDA advocacy as the 2008 MDA Harley-Davidson Motor Company Goodwill Ambassador. Harley-Davidson is one of MDA's largest national sponsors, and Christie will be a part of its 105th anniversary events.

Christie has type 2 spinal muscular atrophy, a progressive neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in the arms, legs and torso. He uses a power wheelchair for mobility. "We're deeply honored to welcome Luke Christie's work into the permanent MDA Art Collection," MDA President & CEO Gerald Weinberg said. "His 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 Christie is on display at MDA's national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., and can be seen at www.mda.org/commprog/art/displayall.aspx. Christie's piece will make its premiere appearance at an exhibit in his home town of Due West, S.C. during an MDA Art Collection traveling exhibit at Bowie Art Center at Erskine College. It will be one of 38 selected works that will be on display from April 15 through May 17.

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 350 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. MDA maintains clinics for area adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases at Spartanburg (S.C.) Neurological Services, Mission Hospital OccuMed in Asheville, N.C., and the Medical University of Georgia in Augusta.

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