ARTWORK HONORING THE IAFF-MDA 50TH ANNIVERSARY
ACCEPTED BY MDA ART COLLECTION

"50 Years of Caring" by Morgan Fritz

TUCSON, Ariz., June 3, 2004 — Two paintings celebrating the 50-year partnership between the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and the Muscular Dystrophy Association have been added to MDA’s Art Collection. Now in its 13th year, the Collection features artwork by people from across the country with neuromuscular diseases.

“50 Years of Caring” was created by 5-year-old Morgan Fritz of St. Peters, Mo., with help from her father, Ron, a fire fighter and paramedic for the Normandy Fire Department and a member of IAFF Local #2665. Her colorful pencil and crayon sketch portrays a fire engine, a fire fighter and a child using a wheelchair. In her own handwriting, Morgan thanks fire fighters for their 50 productive years as an MDA sponsor.

Morgan was profiled on the 2003 Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon and is the 2004 MDA State Goodwill Ambassador for Missouri. A preschooler looking forward to starting kindergarten at Warren Elementary, Morgan has spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic motor neuron disease that affects the part of the nervous system that controls voluntary muscle movement.

"Brave Men & Women" by Jack MacColeman

Troy, Mich., artist, Jack MacColeman created the second new piece, “Brave Men & Women,” in honor of the IAFF-MDA anniversary. The acrylic painting depicts a fire fighter walking a child away from a burning house.

An award-winning artist, MacColeman has seven paintings in the MDA Collection, four of which have been featured on MDA Holiday Wishes cards. MacColeman, 79, is affected by phosphorylase deficiency, a metabolic disease that can cause muscle deterioration and kidney damage.

“We welcome these works by Morgan Fritz and Jack MacColeman into the permanent MDA Art Collection,” MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. “Their inspiring creations honor the 50-year IAFF-MDA partnership and will undoubtedly move all who see them as they travel to galleries and museums as part of special exhibits of the Collection.”

Two other pieces in the Art Collection are tributes to the bravery and generosity of fire fighters.

Jan Blaustone of Nashville, Tenn., created “Won’t Back Down 9-11,” a painting inspired by an IAFF photograph of fire fighters searching for survivors in the post-attack rubble at the World Trade Center. The second piece is “The Unforgettable Fire,” a watercolor by Elsha Stockseth of South Weber, Utah. It shows the silhouette of a fire fighter carrying a hose, against a vibrant city skyline.

As MDA’s largest sponsor, the IAFF began its partnership with MDA at the union's 1954 convention in Miami, where the membership proclaimed it would support the voluntary health agency’s efforts “until a cure is found.” Since 1954, the IAFF has raised nearly $200 million for MDA through activities such as the Fill-the-Boot program, softball tournaments, bowl-a-thons and other special events. Many fire fighters also volunteer at MDA summer camps.

The new additions by Morgan and MacColeman will be displayed at MDA’s national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz. The MDA 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 permanent Collection comprises over 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 approximately 230 clinics nationwide serving children and adults with neuromuscular disease.


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