ARTWORK BY FEDERAL WAY ARTIST
ACCEPTED INTO MDA ART COLLECTION

“Yellow Flower #1”

TUCSON, Ariz., Feb. 25, 2008 – A watercolor painting by Danielle M. Harada of Federal Way, Wash., has been accepted by the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Art Collection. Now in its 16th year, the Collection features artwork by people from across the country with neuromuscular diseases.

Painted in bright yellow, Harada’s “Yellow Flower #1” is detailed depiction of a pale sunflower. In this piece, the artist combines her love of nature with her attention to detail.

Harada, 20, is a senior at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Tukwila, where she majors in graphic design.

Harada has spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease that affects the part of the nervous system that controls voluntary muscle movement. She uses a power wheelchair for mobility.

“We’re deeply honored to welcome Danielle Harada’s work into the permanent MDA Art Collection,” MDA President & CEO Gerald Weinberg said. “Her 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 Drummond is on display at MDA’s national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz. and can be seen at www.mda.org/commprog/art/displayall.aspx. Harada’s piece also will 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 more than 350 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 area adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases at University of Washington Medical Center and Children's Hospital Medical Center in Seattle.

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