ARTWORK BY HAWAIIAN ARTIST ACCEPTED INTO MDA ART COLLECTION

TUCSON, Ariz., Nov. 18, 2009 – An oil painting by artist Morris Nakamura of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, has 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.

MDA Summer Camp, Mokuleia, Hawaii

This is Nakamura’s third painting to be added to the Collection. This latest work, titled “MDA Summer Camp, Mokuleia, Hawaii,” depicts enormous leafy green trees and campers on the beach with a gentle sea in the background. The artist’s meticulous attention to natural details adds realism and a sense of pastoral serenity.

Nakamura, 59, has adult spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease in which loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord affects control of voluntary muscle movement.

“We’re honored to welcome Morris Nakamura’s latest work into the permanent MDA Art Collection,” MDA President & CEO Gerald Weinberg said. “His contributions undoubtedly will delight all who see them as they travel to galleries and museums as part of special exhibits.”

The new addition by Nakamura is on display at MDA’s national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., and can be seen at www.mda.org/commprog/art/displayall.aspx.

MDA’s Art 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 more than 360 works by artists ages 2 to 82, representing all 50 states. Each artist is affected by one of the more than 40 diseases in MDA’s program. Selected art 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; and many other sites.

MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive health care and support services, advocacy and education.