Four artworks: The first is a painting of a fire fighter in full gear and carrying an ax, walking away from a house where smoke billows out the windows with his arm around a small girl carrying a cat. The second is a drawing of two boys standing next to a river wearing shirts that say “Camp” and holding fishing poles. The third is a portrait of a black and tan dog looking upward with a focused expression. The fourth is an abstract painting with the silhouette of a face, circles, and curving shapes in bright reds, yellows, blues and greens.

Artworks from left to right: Brave Men and Women by Jack MacColeman, Fishing Buddies by Samuel Williams, Forth Right by Cato Givan, Breath of Spirit by Carlos Serbia.

MDA’s Art Collection Celebrates the Talents of Our Community

By MDA Staff | Thursday, February 16, 2023

Living with a disability is no barrier to creativity. Proving this is the MDA Art Collection, which includes 400 original works by artists living with neuromuscular diseases, including the artwork on this page.

Showcasing the amazing talent of the MDA community, the collection was established in 1992 and showcases the versatility and imagination of artists from ages 2 to 84. The artwork spans media from traditional paintings and drawings to digital designs, a collage with corn, and paint applied with wheelchair wheels and artists’ feet.

Selected art from the collection has been exhibited at prestigious institutes such as the Dallas Museum of Art; Cork Gallery at Lincoln Center in New York; Tucson Museum of Art; Bishop Museum in Honolulu; Chicago Public Library; Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art; Los Angeles Children’s Museum; JFK Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville; and the Capital Children’s Museum in Washington, DC.

MDA is excited to continue this legacy and culture of inclusion by making the full collection viewable online and bringing selected works on the road.