ARTWORK BY SULPHUR TEEN
ACCEPTED INTO MDA ART COLLECTION

“Rainbow Love”

TUCSON, Ariz., March 28, 2008 – An opaque watercolor painting by Alyssa Schwartzenburg of Sulphur, La., has been accepted into the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Art Collection, which features artwork by people from across the country with neuromuscular diseases.

Named for her beloved MDA summer camp, Rainbow Camp, Schwartzenburg's "Rainbow Love" depicts a young couple sitting together at camp admiring a colorful rainbow and its reflection in the water.

A 12th grader at Sulphur High School, Schwartzenburg, 17, graduates in May and will be attending the University of Louisiana in Lafayette in the fall. She's interested in arts, crafts and music and is involved in various Christian groups.

Schwartzenburg has entered and placed in school art competitions and one of her works was submitted to a local art gallery for a show.

Schwartzenburg has spinal muscular atrophy, a progressive neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in the arms, legs and torso. She uses a power wheelchair for mobility.

"We're deeply honored to welcome Alyssa Schwartzenburg'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 Schwartzenburg is on display at MDA's national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., and can be seen at www.mda.org/commprog/art/displayall.aspx. Schwartzenburg'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 some 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 Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, Lafayette, La.

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