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May 16, 2008/FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Marla Carpenter, 336-770-3337, carpem@ncarts.edu (Photos of Ming Cho Lee and Jesús Moroles are available upon request) RENOWNED SET DESIGNER MING CHO LEE AND GRANITE SCULPTOR JESÚS MOROLES TO SPEAK AT COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES AT NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
WINSTON-SALEM – Chancellor John Mauceri has announced that Ming Cho Lee, one of the foremost set designers in America today, and Jesús Moroles, prominent granite sculptor, will speak at the North Carolina School of the Arts’ commencement ceremonies for college and high school graduates, respectively, on May 31 at NCSA’s Stevens Center. Lee, a recipient of the National Medal of Arts as well as the Tony, Obie, Drama Desk and other awards, will speak to the college graduates at the 1 p.m. ceremony. Moroles, who has more than 2,000 works in place around the world, will speak to the high school graduates at the 9 a.m. ceremony. Lee and Moroles also will receive honorary doctorates at the ceremonies. Ming Cho Lee is one of the foremost set designers in America today, and is a recipient of the National Medal of Arts, the highest national award given in the arts. His extensive credits include work in opera, dance, and theatre. Born in Shanghai, Lee attended Occidental College and UCLA. He has worked with many leading American dance companies, including Martha Graham, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, Eliot Feld Ballet, Jose Limon, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. From 1962 through 1973, he was the principal designer for Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival. He has designed sets for opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera. He has also designed for theatre groups including Arena Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Guthrie Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Seattle Repertory Theatre and the Manhattan Theatre Club, and for Broadway.	Ming Cho Lee Jesús Moroles
Internationally, Lee has designed productions for Covent Garden (London), Hamburgische Staatsoper, Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Royal Danish Ballet, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (Taipei), the Hong Kong Cultural Center, and Buhnen Graz (Austria). His numerous other awards and distinctions include a Tony Award, an Obie for sustained achievement, New York Drama Desk and New York and Los Angeles Outer Circle Critics Awards, three honorary doctorates, awards for long-term achievement from six major theatre and opera organizations, membership in the Theatre Hall of Fame, the Mayor’s Award for Arts and Culture from New York City, and the recognition of many Chinese, Asian, and Immigrant organizations. His work has been shown in two separate retrospectives at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and in Taipei. As an architectural consultant, Lee designed theatres for Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre and the State University of New York at Purchase. He holds the Donald Oenslager Chair in Design and is the Co-Chair of the Design Department at the Yale University School of Drama. Jesús Moroles was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1950. He continues to live and work in Texas, with his studio in Rockport, Texas. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Texas, Denton, in 1978 and apprenticed under Luis Jiménez for one year immediately after his graduation. In 1979 he left for Italy and worked in Pietrasanta, Italy, for one year before starting his body of work for which he is widely known. Critical recognition for Moroles came quickly. His most visible public sculpture is “Lapstrake” 1987, a massive 22-feet-tall, 64-ton work located across from the Museum of Art in New York. Moroles has received significant national attention with his inclusion in the landmark exhibition, “Contemporary Hispanic Art in the United States,” which was shown at major American museums. His largest scale single work is the “Houston Police Officers Memorial,” dedicated in November 1992. The memorial is composed of a granite and earth rising stepped pyramid surrounded by four equal inverted stepped pyramids excavated from the ground. When describing the process of working with granite, Moroles observed, “I always say we don’t carve granite, we tear granite. One of the ways we do this tearing is we drill small holes in the granite and put wedges into it. We apply pressure to the middle of the stone to tear it in a line or in a curve and actually open up the middle of the granite and it shows all the crisp untouched granite.” And describing his work: “Each of my pieces has about 50 percent of its surface untouched and raw – those are parts of the stone that were torn. The rest is smooth and polished. The effect, which I want people to not only look at but touch, is a harmonious coexistence of the two.” Moroles has more than 2,000 works in place in China, Egypt, France, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States, in museum, corporate, public and private collections. To date, Moroles’ work has been included in more than 150 one-person exhibitions and 175 group exhibitions worldwide. Among his distinctions, Moroles is a member of the board of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. He was recently chosen as the recipient of the 2007 Award for Visual Arts by the Texas Medal of Arts Awards Committee. The North Carolina School of the Arts was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established by the NC General Assembly in 1963, NCSA opened in Winston-Salem in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina in 1972. More than 1,100 students from middle school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking and Music. For more information about NCSA, visit www.ncarts.edu. ### MEDIA: The NCSA commencement ceremonies are not open to the general public. Family and friends of graduating students must have tickets to enter the Stevens Center. However, tickets are available for media representatives. Please call 336-770-3337 by May 28 if you are interested in covering the event. ###
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Internationally, Lee has designed productions for Covent Garden (London), Hamburgische Staatsoper, Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Royal Danish Ballet, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (Taipei), the Hong Kong Cultural Center, and Buhnen Graz (Austria).

His numerous other awards and distinctions include a Tony Award, an Obie for sustained achievement, New York Drama Desk and New York and Los Angeles Outer Circle Critics Awards, three honorary doctorates, awards for long-term

achievement from six major theatre and opera organizations, membership in the Theatre Hall of Fame, the Mayor’s Award for Arts and Culture from New York City, and the recognition of many Chinese, Asian, and Immigrant organizations.

His work has been shown in two separate retrospectives at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and in Taipei. As an architectural consultant, Lee designed theatres for Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre and the State University of New York at Purchase. He holds the Donald Oenslager Chair in Design and is the Co-Chair of the Design Department at the Yale University School of Drama.

Jesús Moroles was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1950. He continues to live and work in Texas, with his studio in Rockport, Texas. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Texas, Denton, in 1978 and apprenticed under Luis Jiménez for one year immediately after his graduation. In 1979 he left for Italy and worked in Pietrasanta, Italy, for one year before starting his body of work for which he is widely known.

Critical recognition for Moroles came quickly. His most visible public sculpture is “Lapstrake” 1987, a massive 22-feet-tall, 64-ton work located across from the Museum of Art in New York. Moroles has received significant national attention with his inclusion in the landmark exhibition, “Contemporary Hispanic Art in the United States,” which was shown at major American museums. His largest scale single work is the “Houston Police Officers Memorial,” dedicated in November 1992. The memorial is composed of a granite and earth rising stepped pyramid surrounded by four equal inverted stepped pyramids excavated from the ground.

When describing the process of working with granite, Moroles observed, “I always say we don’t carve granite, we tear granite. One of the ways we do this tearing is we drill small holes in the granite and put wedges into it. We apply pressure to the middle of the stone to tear it in a line or in a curve and actually open up the middle of the granite and it shows all the crisp untouched granite.” And describing his work: “Each of my pieces has about 50 percent of its surface untouched and raw – those are parts of the stone that were torn. The rest is smooth and polished. The effect, which I want people to not only look at but touch, is a harmonious coexistence of the two.”

Moroles has more than 2,000 works in place in China, Egypt, France, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States, in museum, corporate, public and private collections. To date, Moroles’ work has been included in more than 150 one-person exhibitions and 175 group exhibitions worldwide. Among his distinctions, Moroles is a member of the board of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. He was recently chosen as the recipient of the 2007 Award for Visual Arts by the Texas Medal of Arts Awards Committee.

The North Carolina School of the Arts was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established by the NC General Assembly in 1963, NCSA opened in Winston-Salem in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina in 1972. More than 1,100 students from middle school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking and Music. For more information about NCSA, visit www.ncarts.edu.

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MEDIA: The NCSA commencement ceremonies are not open to the general public. Family and friends of graduating students must have tickets to enter the Stevens Center. However, tickets are available for media representatives. Please call 336-770-3337 by May 28 if you are interested in covering the event.