ACRYLIC PAINTING BY CALVERT CITY ARTIST
ACCEPTED BY MDA ART COLLECTION

TUCSON, Ariz., May 15, 2003 — An acrylic painting by L. Dwain Smith of Calvert City, Ky., has been accepted by the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Art Collection. Now in its 12th year, the Collection features artwork by people from across the country with neuromuscular diseases.

“Ambassador Red” depicts a quartet of racehorses, led by the title horse, barreling down the track. Smith used a combination of hog bristle brushes and palette knives to manipulate bright colors to convey a sense of movement and speed. The striking effect conveys the impression that the horses are about to burst forth from the canvas.

Smith, 58, has been painting for 15 years, winning numerous local and regional awards. Last year, he was selected to create the image (called “December Floodwall”) used for the official 2002 Christmas card for the City of Paducah, Ky. Prior to that, Smith spent some 20 years as a goldsmith and silversmith.

“Metal was my first love,” Smith says. “But muscular dystrophy took care of that.”
Smith is affected by an adult-onset form of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, a disease characterized by muscle weakness and wasting, appearing first in the shoulder and pelvic girdles.

“We’re deeply honored to welcome Dwain Smith’s work into the permanent MDA Art Collection,” MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. “His 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.”

Ross noted that “Ambassador Red” has already been selected for its first MDA Art Exhibit. It currently appears as one of 54 pieces on display at the Northern Trust Bank in Tucson, Ariz.

Ultimately, the new addition will be exhibited at MDA’s national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz. 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 a clinic for area adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases at the St. Francis Medical Center, Center for Health and Rehabilitation, in nearby Cape Girardeau, Mo.

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