Ralph Lee
Encyclopedia
Ralph Lee makes work centered on the mask
, both its design and use in theatrical performance
. Most of the theater events he creates take place outside traditional performance venues. These include parades, pageants
, seasonal celebrations
and outdoor theatrical performances. Masks and giant puppets are a key element in these presentations. His concern is to make the artistic experience accessible to all facets of the community by staging events in familiar public locations, free-of-charge whenever possible and creating startlingly vivid images that are immediately resonant.
Ralph Lee first created puppets as a child growing up in Middlebury, Vermont. He graduated from Amherst College
in 1957, and studied dance and theater in Europe for two years on a Fulbright Scholarship. Upon returning to the United States, Lee acted on Broadway, off-Broadway, in regional theaters and as a member of the Open Theatre, directed by Joseph Chaikin
, from 1967 to 1973. During that period he started creating masks, unusual props, puppets and larger-than-life figures for theater, dance and television.
In 1974, while teaching at Bennington College
, Ralph Lee staged his first outdoor production, which took place all over the college campus, and featured giant puppets and masked creatures, with a large cast of performers and musicians. That same year he organized the first Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, which he directed through 1985. The parade began in the courtyard of the Westbeth Artists Community
. During his tenure the parade grew from a small community event built around his masks and giant figures into one of New York City's major festivals, attracting over 250,000 people and media attention from around the world. For his work on the parade Mr. Lee received a 1975 Village Voice OBIE Award
and 1985 Citation from the Municipal Arts Society, and in 1993 he was inducted into the CityLore People's Hall of Fame. Under his direction the Village Halloween Parade was funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (1974–1985), Con Edison (1980–1985), American Express
(1983–1985), the Association for a Better New York (1985), the New York State Council on the Arts
(1979–1984), the Public Theater
(1983, 1984), the Kaplan Fund (1977, 1978 and 1983), and the National Endowment for the Arts
(1977–1982).
In 1976 Ralph Lee became Artistic Director of the Mettawee River Theatre Company, which has been a center of his creative activity ever since. Mettawee's productions are based on creation myths, trickster tales, Sufi stories, legends and folklore from the world's many cultures. Most performances take place outdoors; they incorporate masks, puppetry, visual effects and live music. Each summer Mettawee gives over twenty-five performances in upstate New York and New England, traveling to rural communities that are likely to have no other exposure to live theater. In many towns our performances have become eagerly awaited annual events. These performances take place in parks, public lawns, fields and town greens. The company has also appeared at many festivals, including the 1991 New York International Festival of the Arts, the New Theater Festival in Baltimore, the Universiade in Edmonton, Alberta and the National Puppetry Festivals in San Luis Obispo, California and in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and on a month-long tour of Alaska. Since 1984 they have finished their summer tour with performances in the garden of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
Mettawee's 1999-2000 production of Molière
's PSYCHE was presented at the Henson International Festival of Puppetry Arts in New York and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. HEART OF THE EARTH, which was developed by Mr. Lee with the Mettawee River Company in 1993, was then produced by INTAR at the 1994 Henson Festival. The production was then presented to packed houses at INTAR, the Hispanic Theater in New York City and toured to New York area schools under the auspices of the Lincoln Center Institute. The script for this play was written by Cherríe Moraga, with a musical score by Glen Velez. This project received funding from Opera America
, the National Endowment for the Arts
and the Henson Foundation.
The Mettawee River Company has received continuing funding from the National Endowment for the Arts
from 1980 to the present and the New York State Council on the Arts
from 1978 to the present, with additional grants from the Agostino Foundation (2000–2007), the Bickford Foundation (1991–2008), the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation (2000–2008), Meet the Composer
(1984–1986, 1988), the Henson Foundation (1985, 1987, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007), the Merck Family Fund (1986), and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (1980 and 1981). Awards to Mettawee include an OBIE, two Citations for Excellence from UNIMA-USA, the international puppetry organization and two American Theatre Wing
design awards.
At the invitation of Robert Laughlin, anthropologist with the Smithsonian Institution
, Ralph Lee went to San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico in February, 1989 to work with the Mayan writer's collective, Sna Jtz ‘Ibajom. Lee traveled there annually for twelve years, each time creating a new theater piece with the group, drawn from their folk material or the current political situation. These works have been performed extensively over the years, within their own communities as well as throughout Mexico, in Honduras, Florida and at the Mexican Museum and Cultural Center in Chicago. In January, 2001, he directed a bi-lingual adaptation of Sna's 2000 play EL ORIGIN DE MAIZ, produced by the outreach program of the LaJolla Playhouse for an eight-week tour of schools and community centers throughout southern California. For his work in Mexico Mr. Lee has received grants from Fideicomiso Para la Cultura Comision Mexico/USA (1993), Arts International (1992, 2002) and DTW's Suitcase Fund (1992).
Ralph Lee has been an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine since 1984. At the Cathedral he directed and designed the MUMMER'S PLAY for the BOAR'S HEAD FESTIVAL, directed plays for the Feast of St. Francis, provided staging for Bach's ST. JOHN PASSION and the visual finale for Paul Winter
's CARNIVAL. His giant creatures rampage through the Cathedral as the finale for the annual Halloween event. THE WILDMAN, a co-production of the Mettawee River Company and the Cathedral, was performed there in the fall of 1987.
Mr. Lee's creations were a central part of the Bronx Zoo
's annual Easter celebrations from 1980 to 1984. He created giant figures for the New Year's Eve celebrations in Central Park
(1974–1980) and Fourth of July festivities on the steps of Federal Hall in 1975. Since 1993, his masks and giant puppets have been featured at public celebrations at the New York Botanical Garden
in the Bronx, including Halloween on Haunted Walk (1993–2005) and THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD (1995–present).
Ralph Lee has created masks for major theater and dance companies, including the Metropolitan Opera
, the New York City Opera
, the New York City Ballet
, the Joffrey Ballet
, the Phoenix Theater
, the Waverly Consort, the Living Theater, Shari Lewis
, the Ensemble for Early Music, the New York Shakespeare Festival
, Shakespeare & Company, Erick Hawkins
Dance Company, Jean Erdman
's Theater of the Open Eye, Saturday Night Live
(He created the Land Shark.) and Yoshiko Chuma
's School of Hard Knocks.
From February through May 1998, the New York Public Library
for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center presented a retrospective exhibition of Mr. Lee's masks, puppets, giant figures and scenic elements, attracting record-breaking crowds to the gallery. Other exhibits have taken place at the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council – Glens Falls, New York (2004); The Taft School
– Watertown, Connecticut (2003); the World Financial Center
Gallery – NYC (1999), and the City University Graduate Center Mall – NYC (1976 and 1987).
Ralph Lee has taught at Amherst College
, Bennington College
, the Boys and Girls Republic (on the Lower East Side
in New York City), Hampshire College
, the Jewish Theological Seminary
, Smith College
, Union Theological Seminary
, and he has been on the faculty of New York University
since 1988. In addition, he has done residencies at the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
in Immokalee, Florida; Colgate University
; Hamilton College; the Navaho Reservation in Rock Point, Arizona; the University of Rio Grande
, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
. In 2007-08 Mr. Lee was the Jim Henson
Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland in College Park.
Ralph Lee's work has been acknowledged by several individual awards, including a 2003 Guggenheim Fellowship
, a 1996 New York State Governor's Arts Award, and a 1996 DTW Bessie Award. Individual grants include Dancing in the Streets (1996), Art Matters (1995), the Beard's Fund (1980), and a CAPS Grant (1975).
Mask
A mask is an article normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes...
, both its design and use in theatrical performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
. Most of the theater events he creates take place outside traditional performance venues. These include parades, pageants
Procession
A procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...
, seasonal celebrations
Celebrations
Celebrations are a chocolate collection made by Mars, Incorporated, comprising miniature versions of Mars-produced chocolate bars. After the success of Celebrations, Cadbury UK released their own version, Miniature Heroes.-Contents:...
and outdoor theatrical performances. Masks and giant puppets are a key element in these presentations. His concern is to make the artistic experience accessible to all facets of the community by staging events in familiar public locations, free-of-charge whenever possible and creating startlingly vivid images that are immediately resonant.
Ralph Lee first created puppets as a child growing up in Middlebury, Vermont. He graduated from Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
in 1957, and studied dance and theater in Europe for two years on a Fulbright Scholarship. Upon returning to the United States, Lee acted on Broadway, off-Broadway, in regional theaters and as a member of the Open Theatre, directed by Joseph Chaikin
Joseph Chaikin
Joseph Chaikin was an American theatre director, playwright, and pedagogue.-Early years:The youngest of five children, Chaikin was born to a poor Jewish family living in the Borough Park residential area of Brooklyn. At the age of six, he was struck with rheumatic fever, and he continued to...
, from 1967 to 1973. During that period he started creating masks, unusual props, puppets and larger-than-life figures for theater, dance and television.
In 1974, while teaching at Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
, Ralph Lee staged his first outdoor production, which took place all over the college campus, and featured giant puppets and masked creatures, with a large cast of performers and musicians. That same year he organized the first Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, which he directed through 1985. The parade began in the courtyard of the Westbeth Artists Community
Westbeth Artists Community
Westbeth Artists Housing, located at 463 West Street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan, is the largest such community in the world. This low- to middle-income rental housing project was developed with the assistance of the J.M...
. During his tenure the parade grew from a small community event built around his masks and giant figures into one of New York City's major festivals, attracting over 250,000 people and media attention from around the world. For his work on the parade Mr. Lee received a 1975 Village Voice OBIE Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
and 1985 Citation from the Municipal Arts Society, and in 1993 he was inducted into the CityLore People's Hall of Fame. Under his direction the Village Halloween Parade was funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (1974–1985), Con Edison (1980–1985), American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
(1983–1985), the Association for a Better New York (1985), the New York State Council on the Arts
New York State Council on the Arts
The New York State Council on the Arts is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York. It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell , with backing from Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and began its work in 1961...
(1979–1984), the Public Theater
Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as The Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers. It is headquartered at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in the East Village...
(1983, 1984), the Kaplan Fund (1977, 1978 and 1983), and the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
(1977–1982).
In 1976 Ralph Lee became Artistic Director of the Mettawee River Theatre Company, which has been a center of his creative activity ever since. Mettawee's productions are based on creation myths, trickster tales, Sufi stories, legends and folklore from the world's many cultures. Most performances take place outdoors; they incorporate masks, puppetry, visual effects and live music. Each summer Mettawee gives over twenty-five performances in upstate New York and New England, traveling to rural communities that are likely to have no other exposure to live theater. In many towns our performances have become eagerly awaited annual events. These performances take place in parks, public lawns, fields and town greens. The company has also appeared at many festivals, including the 1991 New York International Festival of the Arts, the New Theater Festival in Baltimore, the Universiade in Edmonton, Alberta and the National Puppetry Festivals in San Luis Obispo, California and in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and on a month-long tour of Alaska. Since 1984 they have finished their summer tour with performances in the garden of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
Mettawee's 1999-2000 production of Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
's PSYCHE was presented at the Henson International Festival of Puppetry Arts in New York and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. HEART OF THE EARTH, which was developed by Mr. Lee with the Mettawee River Company in 1993, was then produced by INTAR at the 1994 Henson Festival. The production was then presented to packed houses at INTAR, the Hispanic Theater in New York City and toured to New York area schools under the auspices of the Lincoln Center Institute. The script for this play was written by Cherríe Moraga, with a musical score by Glen Velez. This project received funding from Opera America
Opera America
Opera America, officially OPERA America, is a service organization in North America promoting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera...
, the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
and the Henson Foundation.
The Mettawee River Company has received continuing funding from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
from 1980 to the present and the New York State Council on the Arts
New York State Council on the Arts
The New York State Council on the Arts is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York. It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell , with backing from Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and began its work in 1961...
from 1978 to the present, with additional grants from the Agostino Foundation (2000–2007), the Bickford Foundation (1991–2008), the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation (2000–2008), Meet the Composer
Meet the Composer
Meet the Composer is an American organization founded in 1974 by the composer John Duffy as a project of the New York State Council on the Arts. It seeks to assist composers in making a living through writing music by sponsoring commissioning, residency, education, and audience interaction...
(1984–1986, 1988), the Henson Foundation (1985, 1987, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007), the Merck Family Fund (1986), and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (1980 and 1981). Awards to Mettawee include an OBIE, two Citations for Excellence from UNIMA-USA, the international puppetry organization and two American Theatre Wing
American Theatre Wing
The American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
design awards.
At the invitation of Robert Laughlin, anthropologist with the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, Ralph Lee went to San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico in February, 1989 to work with the Mayan writer's collective, Sna Jtz ‘Ibajom. Lee traveled there annually for twelve years, each time creating a new theater piece with the group, drawn from their folk material or the current political situation. These works have been performed extensively over the years, within their own communities as well as throughout Mexico, in Honduras, Florida and at the Mexican Museum and Cultural Center in Chicago. In January, 2001, he directed a bi-lingual adaptation of Sna's 2000 play EL ORIGIN DE MAIZ, produced by the outreach program of the LaJolla Playhouse for an eight-week tour of schools and community centers throughout southern California. For his work in Mexico Mr. Lee has received grants from Fideicomiso Para la Cultura Comision Mexico/USA (1993), Arts International (1992, 2002) and DTW's Suitcase Fund (1992).
Ralph Lee has been an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine since 1984. At the Cathedral he directed and designed the MUMMER'S PLAY for the BOAR'S HEAD FESTIVAL, directed plays for the Feast of St. Francis, provided staging for Bach's ST. JOHN PASSION and the visual finale for Paul Winter
Paul Winter
Paul Winter is an American saxophonist , and is a six-time Grammy Award nominee.- Biography :Paul Winter attended Altoona Area High School and graduated in 1957...
's CARNIVAL. His giant creatures rampage through the Cathedral as the finale for the annual Halloween event. THE WILDMAN, a co-production of the Mettawee River Company and the Cathedral, was performed there in the fall of 1987.
Mr. Lee's creations were a central part of the Bronx Zoo
Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
's annual Easter celebrations from 1980 to 1984. He created giant figures for the New Year's Eve celebrations in Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
(1974–1980) and Fourth of July festivities on the steps of Federal Hall in 1975. Since 1993, his masks and giant puppets have been featured at public celebrations at the New York Botanical Garden
New York Botanical Garden
- See also :* Education in New York City* List of botanical gardens in the United States* List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City- External links :* official website** blog*...
in the Bronx, including Halloween on Haunted Walk (1993–2005) and THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD (1995–present).
Ralph Lee has created masks for major theater and dance companies, including the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
, the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
, the Joffrey Ballet
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is a dance company in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1956. From 1995 to 2004, the company was known as The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. The company regularly performs classical ballets including Romeo & Juliet and The Nutcracker, while balancing those classics with pioneering modern...
, the Phoenix Theater
Phoenix Theater
The Phoenix Theater is an all-ages club located in Petaluma, California which has been in existence since 1905, and has been subject to many changes in both structure and purpose, mostly due to severe damage caused by multiple fires. - History :...
, the Waverly Consort, the Living Theater, Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children's television show host, most popular during the 1960s and 1990s...
, the Ensemble for Early Music, the New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...
, Shakespeare & Company, Erick Hawkins
Erick Hawkins
Frederick Hawkins known as Erick Hawkins was a leading American modern-dance choreographer and dancer...
Dance Company, Jean Erdman
Jean Erdman
Jean Erdman is a dancer and choreographer of modern dance as well as an avant-garde theater director.-Early years:Erdman was born on February 20, 1916 in Honolulu, Hawaii...
's Theater of the Open Eye, Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(He created the Land Shark.) and Yoshiko Chuma
Yoshiko Chuma
is a dancer, a choreographer and the director of the Bessie Award winning performance art group The School of Hard Knocks. Described in 2007 by Bloomberg as "a fixture on New York's downtown scene for over a quarter- century", her work spans from early "absurdist gaiety" to more recent serious...
's School of Hard Knocks.
From February through May 1998, the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center presented a retrospective exhibition of Mr. Lee's masks, puppets, giant figures and scenic elements, attracting record-breaking crowds to the gallery. Other exhibits have taken place at the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council – Glens Falls, New York (2004); The Taft School
The Taft School
The Taft School is a private, coeducational prep school located in Watertown, Connecticut, USA. The school was founded by Horace Dutton Taft in 1890. It has 570 students, about 470 of whom live on the campus. Taft is a member of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization...
– Watertown, Connecticut (2003); the World Financial Center
World Financial Center
The World Financial Center is a complex of buildings across West Street from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan in New York City, overlooking the Hudson River. This complex is home to offices of companies including Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets, Nomura Group, the Wall Street...
Gallery – NYC (1999), and the City University Graduate Center Mall – NYC (1976 and 1987).
Ralph Lee has taught at Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
, the Boys and Girls Republic (on the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
in New York City), Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
, the Jewish Theological Seminary
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...
, Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, Union Theological Seminary
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...
, and he has been on the faculty of New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
since 1988. In addition, he has done residencies at the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is a non-profit organization in Immokalee, Florida whose members are "largely Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian immigrants working in low-wage jobs throughout the state."Founded in 1993, the group has seen major success on several fronts...
in Immokalee, Florida; Colgate University
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
; Hamilton College; the Navaho Reservation in Rock Point, Arizona; the University of Rio Grande
University of Rio Grande
The University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College are twin colleges in Rio Grande, Ohio, United States....
, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro , also known as UNC Greensboro, is a public university in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States and is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system. The university offers more than 100 undergraduate, 61 master's and 26...
. In 2007-08 Mr. Lee was the Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland in College Park.
Ralph Lee's work has been acknowledged by several individual awards, including a 2003 Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
, a 1996 New York State Governor's Arts Award, and a 1996 DTW Bessie Award. Individual grants include Dancing in the Streets (1996), Art Matters (1995), the Beard's Fund (1980), and a CAPS Grant (1975).