Día de Los Muertos Celebration

Celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) with artist Maria Elena Cruz and honor the loved ones who have passed away through hands-on artmaking. Create your own mini ofrendas (shrines/offerings) and colorful sugar skull piñatas. Enjoy a curator-led walk-through of our newly installed interpretive kiosks showcasing vibrant devotional practices in Haiti, Guatemala, and Mexico. The program will also include live music by Mariachi Alta California and light refreshments.Program Schedule 

1pm–1:30pm: Opening blessing 1:30–2:15pm: Curator-led walk-through of our newly installed interpretive kiosks; Joss Gallery

1:30–4pm: Sugar skull piñatas and mini ofrendas art-making activity with artist and educator Maria Elena Cruz; available for drop-in; courtyard and Deutsch seminar room

3–4pm: Mariachi Alta California performance; amphitheater

Maria Elena Cruz is a professional artist, curator, art educator, and community builder. She is the founder-director of Dial Art: “A Call to enrich, empower, and serve communities through art.” She has been designing curricula and teaching art for over 20 years. She exhibits her fine art and curates group exhibitions at various galleries throughout California and abroad.Mariachi Alta California first began at UCLA in 2006. The band was started by members of the student group, Mariachi de Uclatlán. A few years later, after graduation, the group decided to take the band off campus. They landed a residency in Santa Monica and the rest is history. Over the years, group members have ventured into various professions but they always gather for what brought them together as young college students: la música del mariachi.

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