Right now in Mexico, thousands of people are preparing for Día de los Muertos and the great celebration to honor their loved ones who have passed on. Altars are being created, filled with photos, candles and items that held significance for deceased friends and families. Toys are being placed near headstones in cemeteries, a token of remembrance for children who died long before their time. Pan de muerto, a sweet Mexican bread, is being baked in abundance in the weeks leading up to Día de los Muertos. Favorite foods and beverages will be placed on altars, in front of doorways and in cemeteries at the beginning of the celebration on Nov. 1 and will remain there for the spirits to enjoy until Nov. 2. These offerings are indicative of the belief that during this time, the spirits return to the land of the living from what is thought to be one of any four other worlds for the dead. Some households will place blankets at the altars, a symbol of comforting their former loved ones after a long journey from the spiritual worlds.
The celebration itself dates back to pre-Spanish colonization in the 16th century, most commonly seen in Aztec practices. In accordance with European colonization and Catholic holidays, Día de los Muertos, or translated as Day of the Dead, falls close to All Souls Day on Nov. 2. Over the years, Day of the Dead has become a popular celebration in cultures everywhere, and familiar symbols associated with Día de los Muertos have become more widely recognized and celebrated. Paintings, jewelry and other household items now often portray the sugar skull — called calavera, the Spanish word for skull — or the catrina, a female skeleton often represented wearing an ornate European hat.
In a classroom in the Firehouse Art Center, artist and youth educator Mario Jose Olvera has been spending an hour and a half a week working with students from Casa de la Esperanza. These students are part of the museum’s Art Attack, a class providing access to art education for students from underserved populations in the area. Recently, Olvera has focused on teaching the importance of the catrina and what it means to their culture. He also worked with them to prepare a group exhibit for Firehouse Art Center’s Day of the Dead exhibition.
“In our culture, I talk more about the basis of where the catrina came from,” Olvera says. “I want my students to know that this isn’t just Día de los Muertos, that the catrina itself is really a symbol of cultural awareness and of change.”
A respected and influential community leader, Olvera is deeply connected to his Latino roots and practices Aztec dancing in addition to his artwork. He goes on to explain that in his teachings, he works with his students to understand that Mexico had a culture of its own before the Spanish influence. While his students made tissue flowers and painting their own catrinas, Olvera explained that the catrina is more than a representation of the Mexican Revolution.
“I’m really grateful that I had a month to teach them, because the catrina is such a profound subject, and I didn’t want to overload them with information all at once,” Olvera says. “But I was letting them know that the catrina is part of our people, and it is a symbol of turning into who we are now. The catrina is a representation of a dissociation with indigenous culture and involves a European look, hence the beautiful French dress that is often seen in artwork. This is about taking on all these European ways of life, and it’s not just some pretty looking skeleton. It’s a symbol of a lot — of change, transition and this mix of people we are now.”
For other local artists participating in Firehouse Art Center’s Day of the Dead exhibit, the significance of the celebration lies within the artwork, like with Stephanie Hilvitz, a former Firehouse employee.
“I am drawn to working with the bright colors of the Día de los Muertos imagery and the deep and emotional mythology,” Hilvitz says.
The inspiration of Mexican culture is evident in Hilvitz’s work. For this year’s exhibition, her catrina painting is based off of Mexican loteria cards and depicts La Sirena, which in this case is a Día de los Muertos mermaid.
“For Firehouse, this has become an anticipated yearly event for people to come together to paint and celebrate the catrina paintings in a festive, communal environment of sharing ideas of both imagery and painting,” she says.
What resonates in the words of both Hilvitz and Olvera is the idea that Día de los Muertos and its teachings are all part of a celebration that is to be shared with the one another. For the community of Longmont and surrounding areas, art has proven to be a pathway that leads audiences into the celebration. This is perhaps most evident with the Longmont Museum’s Day of the Dead celebration, which is now in its 15th year.
“This event has brought the community together in a lot of different ways,” says Jill Orr, former curator of education for the Longmont Museum, in a video distributed by the Latino Chamber of Commerce. “It first started as an accident, because we thought it would be just one year as a way to reach out to the Latino community. But we wanted to make that effort again, and so we started connecting again.”
Fifteen years ago, the Longmont Museum was trying to learn why more Latino members of the community weren’t coming through their doors. They decided to hold a meeting and ask this question to local Latino community leaders.
“If you go by a storefront, you’ll see something that attracts something to you,” says Carmen Ramirez, Longmont community and neighborhood resources manager. “You might be attracted to a color of a dress, or some other item in the window. One of the things I thought is, ‘What would attract Latinos?’ The answer was a Day of the Dead celebration.”
Since the museum’s first exhibit, the event has grown to be one of the largest Day of the Dead celebrations in the state of Colorado. Until the end of the exhibit on Nov. 8, more than 6,000 people are expected to participate in education and family programming related to the celebration.
“More and more artists are coming with an altar and activities like making masks or flowers,” says Lupita Ramirez, a local Longmont educator. “It’s wonderful to see the community, not just the Spanish-speaking fellows or Americans, coming together as one to celebrate this event.”
Back at Firehouse Art Center, Olvera reflects on how his class came together to create catrina paintings for people to enjoy, and the significance of what that means to a child to be a part of something on such a large scale and making contributions to the community. Their work provided a scenic backdrop for the Catrina Ball at the Firehouse, which took place earlier in October.
“My Art Attack class is like a familia,” Olvera says. “I have a great group of kids between the ages of 8 to 13 that come by that worked together on the Catrina Ball. If I have one little girl who is having an issue with a certain medium, I see kids helping out all the time. And with such a multi-age group, my teachings about the catrina resonated with them, and they were able to explain to the younger kids, whose gears I could just see turning. This was great for them.”
Olvera says that on the night of the Catrina Ball, he brought a small handful of students to see their work, including one student in particular who helped with the majority of the actual painting. The Art Attack class and Olvera produced two paintings overall, one of which depicts the catrina putting indigenous garments back on to represent the pre-Spanish culture. Olvera has since decided to spend 10 minutes from every class taking his students into the Firehouse Art Center gallery.
“Knowing that their own artwork is on the wall for the community to enjoy excites them,” Olvera says. “It inspires them to do more work, and get more serious with it while being very playful.”
ON THE BILL: Celebrating Dia de los Muertos. Firehouse Art Center, 667, Fourth Ave., Longmont, 303-651-2787. Through Nov. 8. Dia de los Muertos. Muse Gallery, 356 Main St., Longmont. 303-678-7869. Through Oct. 31. Day of the Dead Exhibit. Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont, 303-651-8374. Through Nov. 8. Free Family Celebration. 11 a.m. Oct. 31, Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont, 303-651-8374. For a full list of Day of the Dead events at Longmont Museum, go to longmontcolorado.gov.
