Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

Published by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY

Tuesday, October 23, 2001
Remembering the dead
Upcoming holiday Nov. 2 commemorates the lives of ancestors and friends
By Cassandra Hinojosa and Dan Parker
Caller-Times

Michelle Christenson/Caller-Times

Crockett Elementary student Mayra Guerra, 10, arranges items on an alter for Day of the Dead at school. ‘The imagery during Day of the Dead is with color and flowers,’ said art teacher Diana Hughes, who guided students through the project.

Some of the children carried papier-mache flowers. Some carried ornaments. Some carried photos of loved ones who had passed away.
   All of the children placed the items on an altar at Crockett Elementary School, where art teacher Diana Hughes last week explained the Day of the Dead holiday coming up Nov. 2.
   “I was getting tired about hearing about Halloween and all the bloody stuff,” Hughes said. “It’s morbid and dark and spooky. The imagery during Day of the Dead is with color and flowers.”
   Celebrated in Latin America and the United States, Day of the Dead dates back to 1030 A.D., when Saint Odilo issued a decree to make the date a “day of all the departed ones,” or All Souls’ Day. It’s a festive celebration that commemorates the lives of ancestors and friends.
   Artistic and spiritual

Michelle Christenson/Caller-Times

Sugar skulls made by Crockett Elementary School students sit on a counter to harden before being decorated.

   For many in the Coastal Bend, Day of the Dead is both an artistic and spiritual celebration. As the day approaches, children and adults alike are creating miniature skulls made of sugar and piecing together skeleton figurines and building altars to remember the dead.
   Hughes keeps a year-round altar in her home in remembrance of her grandparents and important figures of eastern philosophy.
   “This is how I express myself — not with a paintbrush or a pencil, but with the activities I’m involved with,” she said. “This year, I’m involved in the creation of four altars. … It gives me great pleasure to see my children excited about the Day of the Dead activities.”

Day of the Dead events

What: Community Peace Altar
When: 7-8 p.m. Saturday
Where: The Gallery at the Center, 505 S. Water St.
Cost: Free
Info: 884-5366
Sugar skull and papel picado demonstrations, community altar, Day of the Dead art exhibit.

What: Family Funday
When: 1-3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Antonio E. Garcia Arts Education Center, 2021 Agnes St.
Cost: Free
Info: 882-7837 or 825-3513
Ofrenda installations by schools, community groups and artists, live music by Latin Talk, Dia de los Muertos food, create papel picado, mini ofrendas for children

What: El Dia de los Muertos Altares (two altars)
When: Oct. 30 through Nov. 3
Where: Mary and Jeff Bell Library breezeway at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Cost: Free
Info: 825-5778
Sponsored by Mexican Consulate, Amigos de Mexcio and Amigos Student Organization. No original photos.

What: El Dia de los Muertos discussion with guest speaker Alva Lilia Cuevas de Jacobo
When: Noon to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 2
Where: Mary and Jeff Bell Library reserve room at A&M-Corpus Christi
Cost: Free
Info: 825-5778

   Fourth-grade student Norma Martinez can remember decorating sugar skulls with her grandmother, who passed away four years ago. For this year’s Day of the Dead, Norma brought her grandmother’s blanket and candles to the school’s altar because they remind her of “abuelita,” or grandmother.
   “When I grow up, I want to be involved with Day of the Dead,” Norma said. “It makes me feel like an artist.”
   In tribute of the dead
   Mayra Guerra, a fifth-grader, brought a photo of her grandmother to rest on the altar.
   “It helps to have something about them that reminds you of them,” Mayra said. “It makes you feel like you’re closer to the person that died.”
   Cynthia Alvarez, an artist and assistant librarian at Carroll High School, has been creating Day of the Dead folk art for about seven years. Last year, she created an altar as a tribute to her father, Baltazar Alvarez, a firefighter, police officer and medic who passed away in 1999. On the altar, she placed her father’s eye glasses, his fishing pole, his coffee cup and his Bible.
   “For me, it was really cathartic, because I came in contact with a lot of things that reminded me of him,” Cynthia Alvarez said. “It made me feel sort of like his presence.”
   This year, she’s making little skeletons, called calacas, from wire and clay. Several of her calacas will be displayed Saturdayat a community peace altar at The Gallery at the Center, 505 Water St., where anyone in the community may contribute to remember the dead.
   Showcasing artistry
   The Gallery at the Center also will include a Day of the Dead exhibit of artists including Mario Garza.
   As he creates art related to Day of the Dead, Garza ponders the deaths of people he has known and not known. That includes people who died during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “Family, friends, victims throughout the whole world — it’s something I see and I react to,” he said.
   Local bakers create their Day of the Dead artistry in ovens.
   Roberto Mendiola, owner of San Antonio Bakery, is selling a variety of Pan de Muerto, a sweet bread traditionally eaten during Day of the Dead.
   “They include shapes of human figures,” Mendiola said. “There are a lot of Hispanic people here … who want to see what’s done in Mexico.”
   Food, music and stories
   Pilar, a shop in Lamar Park, sells Day of the Dead items like papier-mache skeletons, crosses and candleholders.
   “There are a lot of people in this town that are into it,” said Terry Sciantarelli, manager of Pilar. “They sell because of the fact that it’s all related to the past (and) the colors the fun-ness of it.”
   Lucy Torres began setting up Day of the Dead altars as a student at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Now Torres, a multicultural coordinator at the University, involves her children in Day of the Dead festivities.
   “It’s a tradition, and I was born in Mexico,” Torres said. “In Mexico … it’s a celebration of bringing food and music and wonderful stories of people who aren’t here anymore. People are doing it all over the place, which is awesome.”

   Contact Cassandra Hinojosa at 886-3617 or hinojosac@caller.com. Contact Dan Parker at 886-3753 or parkerd@caller.com

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND