Join the celebration of the traditional Mexican holiday,
Dia des los Muertos (Day of the Dead) with an exhibit and reception at the
Carlsten Art Gallery at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
The exhibit will be offered Thursday, Oct. 29, through
Sunday, Nov. 1, at the gallery on the second floor of the Noel Fine Arts Center
on campus. The display will include traditional and contemporary Dia des los
Muertos ofrendas (altars) created by members of the Latino Student Alliance,
Spanish Club, International Club and Carlsten Gallery Student Advisory
Committee at UW-Stevens Point as well as students at Stevens Point Area Senior
High School.
A free, public celebration will be held at the Carlsten
Gallery Saturday, Oct. 31. At 5 p.m., “La Vida y Los Muertos,”a documentary on
the Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico, will be shown. A reception will
follow from 6-9 p.m., featuring a talk by Political Science Associate Professor
Jennifer Collins at 6:30 p.m. Face-painting, Mariachi music, kids crafts and
refreshments, including pan de muerto, will also be featured.
Dia des los Muertos, celebrated throughout Mexico and in
parts of the United States, is connected to ancient Meso-American beliefs
surrounding death and rebirth. The Aztec ritual was moved to coincide with All
Saints Day and All Souls Day, and includes visiting a cemetery where loved ones
are buried to clean and decorate graves and celebrate the deceased with food
and music.
Guests are invited to add objects to a community altar.
Items may include candles, candy, corn, flowers, fruit, bread, incense,
instruments, nuts, squash, pumpkins, photos of lost loved ones, personal
mementos, skeletons, sugar skulls, soda, religious decorations and toys.
Also that evening, an alternative Halloween
trick-or-treat event will be held for families from 5-7 p.m. in the Noel Fine
Arts Center, sponsored by the UW-Stevens Point Rotaract Club.
The gallery is open free of charge, Monday through
Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Thursdays from 7-9 p.m. and on weekends from
1-4 p.m. For more information, contact gallery curator Leslie Walfish at
715-346-4797 or leslie.walfish@uwsp.edu.
Skip to main content
