ARTWORK BY BALTIMORE ARTIST ACCEPTED INTO MDA ART COLLECTION

TUCSON, Ariz., Feb. 27, 2009 – Two creations by artist Tommy Roberts of Baltimore have been accepted into the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Art Collection. Now in its 17th year, the Collection features artwork by people from across the country with muscular dystrophy and related diseases

Coltrane Playing My Favorite Things

Roberts’ “Coltrane Playing My Favorite Things” depicts jazz great John Coltrane playing a soprano sax against a lively blue background. Roberts; other piece, “The Swing,” captures a professional golfer in mid-swing in front of a densely packed crowd.

A well-known Baltimore and Washington-area artist, Roberts, 48, has been involved with art since his childhood and earned a bachelor’s degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art. His work has been exhibited at Artscape art festival, jazz festivals, museums and galleries throughout the country. Roberts, who has Becker muscular dystrophy, captures the essence of some of the world’s greatest jazz musicians with strong likenesses and expressive colors.

The Swing

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

The new additions by Roberts are on display at MDA’s national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., and can be seen at www.mda.org/commprog/art/displayall.aspx. Roberts’ pieces also will be included in MDA Art Collection traveling exhibits.

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 Collection has been exhibited at the Dallas Museum of Art; Cork Gallery at Lincoln Center and the Forbes Collection in New York; Chicago Public Library; Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art; Los Angeles Children's Museum; Capital Children's Museum, Washington, D.C.; and many other sites.

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.