WATERCOLOR BY SAN DIEGO ARTIST
ACCEPTED BY MDA ART COLLECTION
 |
"Point Piños Light" |
TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 29, 2003 — “Point Piños
Light,” a watercolor painted by Michael Shirk of San Diego, 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.
“Point Piños Light” depicts an old-fashioned lighthouse
against the background of the calmness of a sunrise. A luscious landscape
stands in the foreground.
Shirk retired after 40 years as an advertising copywriter when he was
found to have inclusion-body
myositis. Always an admirer of the outdoors, he’s no longer
able to hike, but his love for the outdoors shines through in his watercolor
paintings. Shirk has more than 20 paintings in juried exhibitions at
the Showcase Gallery of the San Diego Watercolor Society.
IBM is a rare progressive inflammatory and degenerative muscle disease
characterized by muscle weakness that causes difficulty in grasping
objects, rising from a seated position, climbing stairs and walking
for long distances.
“We’re deeply honored to welcome Mike Shirk’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.”
The new addition by Shirk will be displayed at MDA’s national
headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., and 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 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 southern California area adults and children affected by
neuromuscular diseases at Children’s Hospital in San Diego.
The Association’s programs are funded almost entirely by individual
private contributors. |
