DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
TO HOST MDA ART EXHIBIT

TUCSON, Ariz., April 25, 2003 — Some 40 selected works of art from the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Art Collection will be featured in an exhibit on the Concourse A mezzanine of the Denver International Airport (DIA). The exhibit is scheduled to be in place May 1, and will run through July 31.

The Collection features artwork by people from across the country with neuromuscular diseases. While most of the work to be displayed was created by children, the exhibit also includes three pieces by adult artists from Colorado.

“Northern Lights” is an oil painting by Aurora resident Jennifer Getson, featuring a stunning view of Colorado’s unique nighttime sky. Arvada resident Cato Givan’s pastel work, “Forth Right,” is a portrait of the artist’s rottweiler service dog, Faust, who assists Givan by opening doors, retrieving objects, and turning lights on and off.

Also included in the exhibit will be Givan’s oil painting, “Peaceful Watch,” depicting a pair of deer at rest in a lush Colorado forest.

Opened eight years ago, Denver International Airport has already become the nation’s fifth busiest airport and is the 11th busiest in the world. DIA is located immediately northeast of Denver at 8500 Peña Blvd. For the location of the Concourse A mezzanine, call (303) 342-2000 or visit www.FlyDenver.com.

“We’re honored to have a portion of our Collection on display at the Denver International Airport, and delighted to be a part of the DIA Art Program,” MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. “The artwork created by the talented children and adults represented in the collection is a source of inspiration to all of us at MDA, and we’re grateful to have the opportunity to share these beautiful works with the many thousands of people whose travels take them through Denver.”

The Collection’s permanent home is MDA’s national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz. Samples of the Collection can also be seen 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 permanent Collection currently 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 area adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases at the Children’s Hospital and the University of Colorado in Denver.

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