Heather Michaelson is an Upper Dublin artist who definitely stands out in a crowd. Michaelson, who celebrated her 50th birthday in May, has never let the fact that she has Down syndrome hold her back. She is a talented artist, teacher and award-winning self-advocate who will be walking the runway in formal attire at a national fundraiser for Down syndrome on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Michaelson will take part in the annual Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel alongside other models with Down syndrome. (October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month.)

Michaelson, who launched “Heather’s Art from the Heart” during the pandemic, won the Edward Sickles II Advocacy Award in March of this year for her self-advocacy. The award is given by The Arc Alliance to champions of the disability community who show creativity, kindness and powerful advocacy. The Arc Alliance is an organization supporting individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

“Heather held up the award like Rocky,” her mother, Robin, told the Local. “She grabbed the microphone and thanked us. The Nov. 7 Be Beautiful Be Yourself event is a big deal. It’s an amazing organization that does great research. Heather had to audition for it. She will wear a formal gown and walk in with celebrities. She will be a fancy lady.”

Michaelson is using Facebook to raise funds for the organization and has raised $500 so far. She goes to the So Much to Give Inspiration Studio in Cedars, near Skippack, twice a month and teaches art to adults with disabilities. “It’s a dream come true there.” Heather said. “I love teaching, and I love art.”

Presented by the Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL), the Nov. 7 fashion show is the largest fundraiser for Down syndrome in the world, raising more than $33 million over 19 years for research, medical care, education and advocacy. According to Emily Johnston, spokesperson for GLOBAL, “Heather shows the world what’s possible when inclusion leads the way. Through her art, public speaking and community work, she continues to break myths, uplift others and lead with heart.”

After graduating from Upper Dublin High School in 1997, Michaelson worked as an assistant teacher at a preschool for 18 years. During the pandemic when she couldn’t work, she created “Heather’s Art from the Heart,” which features her own watercolors, acrylics, oil pastels and collages as well as on mugs and notecards. She has a business card with her painting on it. She sells her art at Arc Alliance events, Scarlet Begonias in Flourtown and at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel synagogue in Elkins Park.

Travel is another of her passions. Her favorite destination is Maine in August, and her favorite sight is the Eiffel Tower in Paris. She has been on cruises with her family to Alaska, Italy, France, England and the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas.

“On one ship, she became the dance star,” Robin said. “The professional dancers asked her to dance, and six professional dancers surrounded her in the middle of the dance floor. They all loved it.”

Michaelson is also a passionate Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies fan. For her 40th birthday, her family members all went to a Phillies game and got a guided tour and met some of the players — and her name was put up on the Jumbotron. Merrill Reese, known as “The Voice of the Eagles,” used to be the family’s neighbor in Upper Dublin. (He now lives in Blue Bell.) Heather got the thrill of a lifetime when Reese let her try on his Super Bowl ring.

“I’m so proud to be in a picture with Heather,” he told the Local.

Michaelson and her parents, Robert and Robin, watch Eagles games at the same time as Heather’s sister in Denver, brother in Boston and cousin, Bryan, in Prague, Czech Republic. Heather’s sister, Dr. Nicole Baumer, is a pediatrician and neurologist at Children’s Hospital in Denver and serves as director of the medical center’s Sie Center for Down Syndrome, the nation’s largest pediatric center for children with Down syndrome. Baumer, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, has said her career choice was inspired by her sister.

Michaelson’s brother, Seth, is a Boston social worker who was also inspired by her to go into his profession.

“Heather has a whole bunch of people in her fan club,” Robin said. “She did not get the singing talent, but she did get the artistic talent.”

Asked to describe herself, Michaelson replied in an earlier interview with the Local, “I am sweet, kind, artistic, funny and modest.”

For more information, email hmichaelson525@yahoo.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.