From October 28 to November 1, all members of the SSU campus community are invited to contribute to a Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) community altar being organized in the University Art Gallery by acclaimed artist Peter Perez, SSU Studio Art Lecturer Eileen Parent, and students.
“We hope the weeklong event will bring a multigenerational perspective and cross-cultural experience that the whole campus can participate in,” said Claudia Molloy, the gallery’s Director of Operations and Collections Manager.
Everyone is encouraged to bring offerings, or ofrendas, such as photos, food, drink, and favorite items in honor of deceased loved ones between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. throughout the week.
“Our tradition says that you are not really dead until no one remembers you. This is a way to keep those we have lost alive in spirit,” Perez said.
Perez will give an artist talk and lead a traditional papel picado (paper banners) workshop at noon on November 1. Perez will also conduct a “Conversación entre Generaciones” (Conversation between Generations) with SSU student Owen Martinez-Alejandre and his mother, Nancy Alejandre, who is from Mexico City but whose great-grandparents were from Pascuaro Michoacán and Oaxaca.
“It is a holiday for us. It is a very important date in our culture. It teaches us to accept the cycle of life and celebrate instead of regretting it, because we know that our loved ones will return this day to live with us, and in that way not be forgotten,” Alejandre said.
Molloy said Perez is an expert on the modern-day Mexican celebration. He was a consultant in the early stages of Pixar’s animated film “Coco,” and has consulted for the Oakland Museum, Museum of Sonoma County, City and County Arts Council of San Francisco, and the cities of Petaluma, Windsor, and San Diego, to name a few. Additionally, the City of Anaheim Day of the Dead celebration was initiated by Perez’s effort to honor the memory of his nephew.
“As an artist, he just brings it all together. We're very excited to work with him,” Molloy said.
“Día de Los Muertos has connected me with the elements of life, and is a way to rejuvenate the weight of grief and love when someone passes. It demonstrates a harmony of life and passage, filled with color and comfort,” Martinez-Alejandre said.
Additional Dia de los Muertos celebrations and altars are being organized across campus by The HUB, the University Library, among others.
On Tuesday, October 29, the Elsie Allen High School band, Mariachi Lobos, will perform at noon on Seawolf Plaza, led by their band teacher and SSU alumnus Efrain Nava.