ARTWORK BY MARIETTA ARTIST
ACCEPTED INTO MDA ART COLLECTION

TUCSON, Ariz., April 7, 2008 – An oil painting by Norma J. Margeson of Marietta, Ga., has been accepted into the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Art Collection. Now in its 16th year, the Collection features artwork by people from across the country with neuromuscular diseases.

“Red Birds in Winter”

"Red Birds in Winter," which took Margeson about a year to complete, is a detailed depiction of two cardinals resting on a fallen branch covered in snow. In the background is a wood cabin surrounded by trees and the cabin's reflection in the pond.

Margeson, 61, attends a local art class and has been painting for over 20 years. She has won a variety of awards and donated a framed piece of artwork to MDA's Night of Hope gala last October in Atlanta.

She received a diagnosis of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease) in 2006 and uses a scooter for mobility.

ALS is a disease affecting voluntary muscle movement. For unknown reasons, nerve cells gradually die and the muscles they control become weak and then nonfunctional. Respiratory complications are typical in ALS, but advances in modern technology allow people with ALS to compensate for many of their losses in function.

"We’re deeply honored to welcome Norma Margeson's work into the permanent MDA Art Collection," MDA President & CEO Gerald Weinberg 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 Margeson is on display at MDA's national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., and can be seen at www.mda.org/commprog/art/displayall.aspx. Margeson's piece also 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 Collection comprises some 350 works by artists aged 2 to 82, representing all 50 states. Each artist is affected by one of the more than 40 neuromuscular diseases in MDA's 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 the MDA/ALS Center at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, MDA maintains clinics for Marietta-area adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.

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