RALEIGH-DURHAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
TO HOST MDA EXHIBIT
TUCSON, Ariz., July 20, 2005 – The Raleigh-Durham International
Airport will display 21 selected works from the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Art Collection from August through December.
“Transcending Barriers: Selections from the MDA Art Collection”
will be on display from Aug. 1 through Dec. 1 in the gallery located
in the walkway between Terminal A and Terminal A North. The gallery
is near the main baggage claim area and “meet & greet”
location.
The Collection features artwork by young and adult artists across the
country who challenge the obstacles imposed by neuromuscular diseases.
Young artists created five of the featured pieces, while the other pieces
are from adult artists.
The exhibit includes four works by North Carolina artists. The featured
selections include traditional acrylics, oils and watercolors, as well
as digitally enhanced media, mixed media, photographs, marker art and
wire sculpture.
The exhibit is part of the airport’s program for public art.
The goals of the program are to enhance the airport travel experience
for passengers while reflecting the unique characteristics of the Raleigh-Durham
region.
“The Raleigh-Durham International Airport offers fine art to give
the public a break from the fast pace of air travel,” said Teresa
Damiano, RDU’s director of marketing and art program coordinator.
“We’re honored to be able to share these inspired pieces
with the Raleigh-Durham region and traveling public.”
The airport’s permanent works of art include ceramic tile murals
depicting North Carolina; the Triangle Icon, commissioned in 2003 to
mark the centennial of flight; and the Dream of Flight sculpture in
the general aviation terminal, which features three stainless steel
statues and a suspended stained glass mobile.
The airport, located equidistant between Durham and Raleigh, began operations
in the 1940s and has grown to accommodate nine major and 14 regional
carriers. It’s located in the heart of the Research Triangle Region
and serves an average of 24,000 passengers a day.
The exhibit will be open to the public seven days a week. Admission
to the exhibit is free. Parking is available in the adjacent parking
facility, with an hourly rate of $1. For directions or more information,
call (919) 840-7706, or visit www.rdu.com.
“It’s a great honor to have a portion of our MDA Art Collection
on display at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport,” MDA President
& CEO Robert Ross said. “We’re inspired by the talented
children and adults who have contributed to the Collection and delighted
to share their remarkable works with the people of North Carolina and
those who visit the airport.”
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.
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 Duke University
Medical Center in Durham and the University of North Carolina Hospitals
in Chapel Hill.
The Association’s programs are funded almost entirely by individual
private contributors.
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