the Westbeth Artists Community. During his time as director, the parade grew from a small community event built around his masks and figures into one of New York City's major events. The parade grew to attract over 250,000 people and media attention from around the world. Lee received a 1975 Village Voice Obie Award and a 1985 citation from the Municipal Arts Society for his work on the parade. In 1993, he was inducted into the City Lore People's Hall of Fame. Under his direction, the parade was funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (1974–1985), the National Endowment for the Arts (1977–1982), the Kaplan Fund (1977, 1978, 1983), the New York State Council on the Arts (1979–1984), Con Edison (1980–1985), the Public Theater (1983, 1984), American Express (1983–1985), and the Association for a Better New York (1985). Mettawee River Theatre Company In 1976, Lee became artistic director of the Mettawee River Theatre Company. Mettawee's productions are based on creation myths, trickster tales, Sufi stories, legends, and folklore from many other cultures. Most productions take place outdoors, in parks, public lawns, fields, and town greens, and 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 have no other exposure to live theater. 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, the National Puppetry Festival in San Luis Obispo, California and Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and on a month-long tour of Alaska. Since 1984, the company has been finishing their summer tours with a performance in the garden of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Notable productions In 1986, the company performed The North Wind at La MaMa. The work was based on a Yupik Eskimo story, as written by Dave Hunsaker and with music by Barbara Pollitt. The company at that time consisted of Valois Mickens, Willie C. Barnes, Lenny Bart, Christine Campbell, Shelley Fine, and Elliot Scott. Heart of the Earth, which was developed by Lee with the company in 1993, was then produced by INTAR Theatre at the 1994 Henson Festival. The production was then presented at INTAR and toured to local schools with the support of the Lincoln Center Institute. The