PHOTOGRAPH BY TCU GRADUATE
ACCEPTED BY MDA ART COLLECTION

TUCSON, Ariz., June 16, 2003 — A photograph by Patrick J. Harris of Fort Worth, Texas, 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.

“These Stairs Intrigue Me” presents an image with an aura of mystery that piques one’s curiosity. The camera captures a dimly lit staircase heading downward, leaving the viewer to imagine what might await at the bottom. In Harris’ eyes, the rest of the world sees stairs as pathways to a location, while he views them as obstacles to overcome.

Harris, a graduate of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, reports that his interest in art goes back to the days “since I could hold a crayon.” While Harris received his bachelor of business administration degree with a major in e-business in May, his minor is in studio art.
Harris, 22, is affected by facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, a disease characterized by facial muscle weakness, along with weakness and wasting of the muscles in the shoulders and upper arms.

Harris’ photograph represents his second donation to the MDA Art Collection, following his 1995 wire sculpture, “Peace Flower,” donated when Harris was 14 years old.
“We’re deeply honored to welcome Patrick Harris’ latest work into the permanent MDA Art Collection,” MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. “His contribution to our Collection will undoubtedly fascinate all who see it as it travels to galleries and museums as part of special exhibits of the Collection.”

The new addition by Harris 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 more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. MDA maintains clinics serving Houston-area adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases at the Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, and the Vicki Appel MDA Neuromuscular Clinic at the Baylor College of Medicine.

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