PAINTINGS BY COCONUT CREEK ARTIST ACCEPTED INTO MDA ART COLLECTION

TUCSON, Ariz., Feb. 25, 2008 – Two oil paintings by Sybil Ross Kleiman of Coconut Creek, Fla., have 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 muscular dystrophy and related diseases.

Hanging Out II

Kleiman’s “Hanging Out II” and “Hanging Out III,” are large and striking oils depicting laid-back, casually attired young men - one chatting on a pay phone and the other watching passersby while having coffee in a café. The works, which have been exhibited in juried shows, are part of Kleiman’s “Hanging Out” series that includes “Hanging Out V” (four young men clustered around a basketball), which was added to the MDA Art Collection in 1996.

Kleiman is a well-known art historian, lecturer, teacher and adjudicator. Since 1994, her works have been selected for exhibition at juried shows at institutions such as the Society of Four Arts (Palm Beach), Nathan D. Rosen Gallery (Boca Raton), Coral Springs Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art and the Philbrook Museum of Art (Tulsa, Okla.). She is listed in Who’s Who of American Women and was a New York Times featured artist.

Hanging Out III

Kleiman has myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease that causes muscle fatigue and weakness. Affected since 1955, she uses a walker and power scooter for mobility. In 1996, Kleiman received the MDA State Personal Achievement Award for Florida.

“We’re deeply honored to welcome Sybil Kleiman’s latest works to the permanent MDA Art Collection,” MDA President & CEO Gerald Weinberg said. “Her contributions to our Collection will undoubtedly delight all who see them as they travel to galleries and museums as part of special exhibits of the Collection.”

The new additions by Kleiman currently are on display at MDA’s national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., and can be seen online at www.mda.org/commprog/art/displayall.aspx.

The MDA 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 40-plus muscle diseases in the MDA program.

Selected art from the MDA Art Collection has been exhibited at the Dallas Museum of Art; Cork Gallery at Lincoln Center and the Forbes Collection 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.; The Sheldon Art Galleries, St. Louis, Mo.; 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 supporting programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, advocacy, and professional and public health education for muscular dystrophy and related diseases.

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

MDA maintains a clinic at Broward General Medical Center in Ft. Lauderdale that serves Coconut Creek residents registered with the Association.