COLORADO ARTS CENTER TO HOST MDA EXHIBIT

TUCSON, Ariz., July 5, 2005 – The Curtis Arts & Humanities Center in Greenwood Village, Colo., will display 43 selected works from the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Art Collection during the month of August.

“Transcending Barriers: Selections From the MDA Art Collection” runs from Aug. 6-31 at the Curtis Arts & Humanities Center, 2349 E. Orchard Road. Pieces from MDA’s collection will be on display along with works by other local artists with disabilities.

The MDA Art Collection features artwork by young and adult artists from across the country who have neuromuscular diseases. The selections include traditional acrylics, pastels, oil and watercolors, as well as digitally enhanced photographs, colored pencil drawings and mixed media. Youngsters created 12 of the featured pieces, while the others are by adult artists, including two Colorado artists.

The Curtis Center serves as a focal point in Greenwood Village’s commitment to the arts. The center is located in a renovated schoolhouse that was built in 1914. The arts center moved to the site in 1990 and opened its doors to the public two years later.

The exhibit will be open to the public Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visitors can call for hours on Saturday, and the exhibit is closed on Sunday and Monday.

Admission to the exhibit is free. For directions or more information, call (303) 797-1779.
An opening reception for the Collection will be held Saturday, Aug. 6 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The exhibit is being underwritten by Lisa and Ralph Schomp BMW-Honda-Mini.

“It’s a great honor to have a portion of our MDA Art Collection on display at the Curtis Arts & Humanities Center in Greenwood Village,” MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. “We’re inspired by the talented children and adults who have contributed to our Collection and delighted to share their remarkable works with the people of Colorado.”

The Collection’s permanent home is MDA’s national headquarters in Tucson. Samples of the Collection also can be viewed at www.mda.org/commprog/art. 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 Collection currently comprises more than 300 works by artists aged 2 to 82 and represents all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each artist is affected by one of the neuromuscular diseases in the MDA program.

Selected art from the Collection has been exhibited at the Art Museum of Western Virginia in Roanoke; 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.

The Greenwood Village Arts & Humanities Council, a citizen advisory body appointed by the City Council, makes recommendations to the City Council on arts and cultural programs and policies.

MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education.

MDA maintains clinics for area adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases at the Children’s Hospital in Denver and the University of Colorado in Aurora.

# # #