Release date: Jan. 9, 2003

Contact: Cheryl Anderson Brown, PR Coordinator for the School of the Arts, 770-499-3417 or cbrown@kennesaw.edu

Rodolfo Morales exhibition is coming to Kennesaw State

The School of the Arts at Kennesaw State University announces an exhibition of paintings, collages, lithographs and etchings by the late Rudolfo Morales. A special engagment, "Magical Stories of Mexico" is the first solo exhibition of his work in the United States since his death two years ago. The exhibition opens Jan. 15 with Mexican music and food in the university's Sturgis Library Gallery and continues through Feb. 26.

The public is invited to a fundraising pre-opening gala on Sunday Jan. 12, followed by a buffet dinner prepared by a gourmet Mexican, live Mexican music and dancing. The cost of gala tickets is $75 per person. Some of Morales' prints will be available for purchase with 30% of the proceeds from their sale benefitting the KSU Art Galleries and this exhibition.

"People will not want to miss this event," says gala sponsor Tom Nickoloff, president and CEO of La Paz Restaurante and Cantina. "It will be an evening of candlelit Mexican elegance."

Rodolfo Morales was born in 1925 in Ocotlan, a colonial town in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, where time moves slowly and where the past is always present in the architecture and traditional way of life. His work includes richly hued dreamlike images of the ancient churches, the town square, colorful markets, black toy-like trains and, always, the women of his town.

Rufino Tamayo, a world-renowned Mexican artist and fellow Oaxacan, saw his art and became his mentor. When he became famous, Morales used most of his income to restore the beloved churches he often depicted in his art. He also became a quiet mentor to the younger artists of Oaxaca, encouraging them to find their own styles based on their lives, their dreams and memories.

"Magical Stories of Mexico" is presented as part of the KSU celebration of the Year of Mexico, co-sponsored by the School of the Arts, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the KSU International Center.

Most of the paintings in the exhibition are on loan from the Museo de la SecretarÌa de Hacienda y CrÈdito P™blico at the Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispado in MÈxico, while many of the prints and several paintings are on loan from Nancy Mayagoitia, founder of the FundaciÛn Rodolfo Morales in Oaxaca and a close friend of the artist. The family of Rodolfo Morales is also lending several paintings.

Many of the works owned by Senora Mayagoitia will be for sale before and during the exhibition, with 30 percent of the proceeds benefiting the KSU Art Galleries. These proceeds are tax deductible.

For more information about the exhibition or gala call 770-499-3223.

# # #

Kennesaw State University is a comprehensive, residential institution with a growing student population of 15,600 from 118 countries. The fifth largest out of 34 institutions in the University System of Georgia, KSU offers 55 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.