For those participating in the Latin American holiday of El Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, it is a time for remembrance and ritual. However, it is also a time of celebration.
For 16 years, the Maude Kerns Art Center  in the West University neighborhood has held the El Día de los Muertos Festival and exhibits to honor lost loved ones, and keep Latin American traditions alive in Eugene.
Patricia Cortez, director of Amigos Multicultural Services Center in Eugene, said El Día de los Muertos is a traditional Mexican holiday created to remember the dead, but that it has spread to North America with the people who immigrated here.
The art center’s gallery dedicated to El Día de los Muertos opened Friday and includes traditional music, authentic foods, native dancing, altar displays and artwork that honors family members who have died.
Families constructed the altars to celebrate the lives of those they loved. The altars were ornamented with photos, flowers, candles, food and personal items that were unique to the individuals being honored. One altar featured guitar picks, another a cooking apron and one displayed a shot of José Cuervo.
Cortez said the styles of altars vary depending on geography. In Mexico, she said, altars tend to have many physical objects as offerings, whereas in Central and South America it is traditional to decorate the altar with a photo, candle and glass of water.
“In Mexico, the offerings are only to the person who has died and is usually given to the deceased in both the cemetery and the home,” she said. “However, in Central and South America, the European influence is stronger and they tend to celebrate the holiday by making offerings to both the passed loved one and also to God.”
At the art center, the festive altars are accompanied by donated sculptures, collages, photography or canvas paintings that help to create a culturally rich atmosphere.
One artist, Dawn McIlwain, has been contributing artwork to this event for several years and said the artwork and altars work well to both divulge culture and remembrance.
“I enjoy the spirit of celebrating artwork and the lives of others; it has so much meaning,” McIlwain said.
The altars were built to prepare for the sacred days of Nov. 1 and 2. Each year on these days, the dead are thought to return to visit their living relatives and friends.
Unfortunately, El Día de los Muertos is slowly slipping behind the shadow of Halloween.
“I heard the holiday is fading, and it is so sad because I know how much I appreciate tradition and culture, and I hate to see everyone lose that,” McIlwain said.
Cortez similarly feels that each year the tradition of El Día de los Muertos is being celebrated less and less.
“As an indigenous myself, it really worries me because I can see the culture is not being passed on and there is a huge loss in that,” she said. “It is important for Latinos especially to be connected to their roots. The younger generation need to know even if you are born in the U.S., there is more to you than just North American tradition.”
Cortez said she is thankful for the festival and exhibits that the Maude Kerns Art Center puts on each year because they expose the community and especially young people to a Latin American tradition. One young participant in Cortez’s Latin youth program, Blanca Flores, attended the El Día de los Muertos opening night and said she has begun to understand the importance of cultural awareness.
“We want to show people who we are and for everyone to understand the importance of this holiday,” she said. “It’s not just for Latinos, but for people in other cultures too.”
Despite the varying altars and offerings and the struggle to carry on tradition, the overarching theme for El Día de Los Muertos is to remember the dead.
This two-day celebration of El Día de los Muertos offers a sense of beauty and optimism to the afterlife for Latinos.
“I grew up with everyone fearing death, and it has always been associated with mourning in our culture,” McIlwain said. “El Día de los Muertos is a joyous way of remembering someone, and it brings out the happiness of a sad occasion. Why not celebrate life, even when it is over?”
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