ARTWORK BY AUSTIN ARTIST
ACCEPTED BY MDA ART COLLECTION

"Water Lily Study - #II"

TUCSON, Ariz., Feb. 24, 2003 — A digital creation by an Austin, Texas, artist has been accepted by the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Art Collection. Now in its 13th year, the Collection features artwork by people from across the country with neuromuscular diseases.

“Water Lily Study - #II” by Jay McMahan is a bright and colorful depiction of Vietnamese water lilies at the St. Louis Botanical Gardens. After photographing the water lilies, he scanned the negative into his computer, where he then enhanced the image.

McMahan has a master’s degree in art from Webster University in St. Louis. He’s a member of the Texas Photographic Society and has exhibited in several art shows. His work can be seen online at www.homepage.mac.com/bluejayart/Personal1.html.
McMahan, 32, has central core disease, one of the over 40 neuromuscular disease in MDA’s program.

“We’re deeply honored to welcome Jay McMahan’s work into the permanent MDA Art Collection,” MDA President & CEO Robert Ross 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 McMahan will be displayed at MDA’s national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz.. It will also 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 permanent Collection comprises some 300 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 adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases in the Austin area.

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