Currently featuring in the Picture Gallery...

"Transcending Barriers: Selections from the MDA Art Collection" May 9 — July 5, 2008

Ariane R. Berman Shawl Acrylic: 34 1/2 x 44 1/2 in.

MDA's Art Collection features works by adults and children across the country who challenge the obstacles imposed by neuromuscular diseases. All of the selections featured in the Forbes exhibit were created by adults, and include acrylics, watercolors, pastels, photography and digital media.

The exhibit highlights works by artists in 21 states, including "Teddy Bear" and "Shawl" by Ariane Berman of New York City, and "Chasing Windmills" by Ruth Rubinstein of Brooklyn. Works by New Jersey artists include "The Marble Table, Herculaneum" by MaryAnn Miller of Clinton, and "Sledding on Hillcrest" by William Titus of Watchung.

"It's a great honor to have MDA Art Collection selections on display at The Forbes Galleries," MDA President & CEO Gerald C. Weinberg said. "We're inspired by the talented adults who have contributed to the Collection and delighted to share their remarkable works with the people of New York."

In 1995, The Forbes Galleries hosted its first MDA Art Collection exhibit. "We're delighted to be hosting the MDA Collection once again," says Bonnie Kirschstein, managing director of The Forbes Collection, adding, "The remarkable spirit and talent of these artists is captured in their works and we're pleased to be aligned with such a fabulous cause."

The MDA Art Collection's permanent home is MDA's national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz. Samples of the Collection also can be viewed at www.mda.org/commprog/art/displayall.aspx. 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.

Ruth Rubinstein Chasing Windmills Watercolor: 26 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.

The Collection currently comprises some 350 works by artists aged 2 to 82, representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each artist is affected by one of the more than 40 neuromuscular diseases in MDA's program.

Dedicated to defeating muscle-wasting diseases, MDA funds worldwide research, comprehensive services, and professional and public health education.MDA maintains clinics for area adults and children affected by neuromuscular diseases at Columbia University Medical Center, Mount Sinai Hospital and Medical Center, and the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in New York.A voluntary health organization, MDA's programs are funded almost entirely by individual private contributors.