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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Thursday, October 11, 2001
Altar of life for Sept. 11 victims
Visitors can add tokens to Day of the Dead ofrenda
By Cassandra Hinojosa
Caller-Times
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George Tuley/Caller-Times
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The ofrenda at the Art Museum of South Texas begins showing on Sunday.
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Many South Texans have never met a single victim of the Sept. 11 tragedy. But for the past month, the area has reached out to victims and their families through donations and prayers.
Now area residents can have a direct hand in creating a Community Ofrenda, a type of alter to the victims of the tragedy. The basic structure of the ofrenda was constructed by area artists and will be on display beginning Sunday at the Art Museum of South Texas. The public is invited to bring tokens of remembrance to add to the ofrenda.
Michelle Smythe and seven other K Space Art Studio artists helped create and organize the effort. The basic structure consists of a flag draped over a series of steps with mounted pictures.
"It evolved into a respectful remembrance of the victims," said Smythe, artist and director of K Space Art Studio.
The names and ages of the dead are listed in the flag's white stripes and veiled in black tulle. Smythe says she added wooden silver stars to the flag, which she says symbolize "falling stars."
"We (added names and photos) because we wanted to give the victims a face," Smythe said. Broken plaster and chrome metal bars and wire create Twin Tower frames and rubble. Art Museum visitors will be encouraged to pin messages to victims on a wreath with red, white and blue strips of paper.
"At the end, we will send the wreath to New York," Smythe said. "That's so the public can leave something behind - a poem, a message, a Bible verse."
Ofrenda is the Spanish word for "offering." An ofrenda is an alter to commemorate a deceased person, and it typically includes some of the person's favorite possessions and foods.
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George Tuley/Caller-Times
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An ofrenda is an alter to commemorate a deceased person. A community ofrenda for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks will be on display at the Art Museum of South Texas starting Sunday.
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Ofrendas are entwined with Day of the Dead festivities on Nov. 2. The holiday is celebrated by people in Mexico, Latin America and the western United States and dates back to 1030 A.D., when Saint Odilo issued a decree to make Nov. 2 a "day of all the departed ones," or All Souls' Day.
Sunday's Community Family Day at the Art Museum includes a book signing by artist Carmen Lomas Garza and a performance by folklorico dancers. Items for the ofrenda can be brought to the museum Tuesday through Saturday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. through October.
Items brought to the ofrenda should not be perishable and cannot be returned.
"The public can do something that comes out of their heart," said Deborah Fullerton, curator of education at the South Texas Institute for the Arts. "Our personal connection is the sense of being an American citizen."
Contact Cassandra Hinojosa at 886-3617 or hinojosac@caller.com
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