Maria Saracino Chosen as One of Six Artists for 2014 Easter Seals Campaign

Award winning artist Maria Saracino announced today that her acrylic illustration “Orange Burst” was chosen as an Easter Seals Stamp for the 2014 Easter Seals Campaign. Maria Saracino is a multi-media artist who is known for her figurative one-of-a-kind polymer clay sculpture and more recent polymer on stone relief sculpting.

Maria Saracino’s “Orange Burst” was chosen through the Easter Seals annual art competition. Six winning artwork designs were selected and will be featured on the 2014 Easter Seals Stamps. Artists from the United States, Canada and Australia competed in this event. The six winning artists will be featured on a stamp that will be distributed to over 19 million homes in their spring campaign. The six stamps will also be promoted on their website in a public competition to pick the Easter Seals Stamp of the Year. The winning stamp will be featured on blankets and other premiums throughout the year to raise money for people with disabilities. The competition starts October 24^th and the winner will be announced on November 4^th. The public is able to vote on the Easter Seals homepage, Facebook or Twitter pages. 

Maria Saracino lives and creates her art in Ottawa. The first 18 years of her career were spent as a graphic designer. She discovered sculpting and polymer clay in the mid 1990’s and has received several awards and nominations for her work. Maria designed and developed a limited edition seasonal gift line and has appeared in countless art doll and figurative art publications in Canada and the US. Her work has been included in three museum exhibits. Regarding the Easter Seals competition, Maria stated “I am thrilled and grateful to be chosen by Easter Seals in a medium that goes back to my initial art roots. It's exciting to be recognized by Easter Seals knowing that these stamps will raise funds to provide programs and services for people with disabilities.”

Easter Seals, founded in 1919, is a non-profit organization, which provides programs, and services to help children and adults with disabilities achieve independence. Since 1934, Easter Seals has been using decorative stamps to raise money and create awareness of its programs.

Over the years, the stamps have transformed into the organization's logo -- the lily -- and have come to be known as Easter seals. Today, over 19 million households nationwide receive the organization's seals each spring.

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