Grinning skeletons, aged tombstones, dancing angels and animated devils — on an average day in Eugene, these images might encourage a bit of discomfort or a little fear at these reminders of death and the unknown.
However at the Maude Kerns Art Center on Friday, images such as these inspired a celebration as community members of all ages arrived in honor of the center’s 18th-annual Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead exhibit.@@http://www.mkartcenter.org/events.htm@@
A crowded reception kicked off the beginning of the show, featuring food, the chance to speak with the some of the artists and performances throughout the evening. These performances included the band band Mariachi Herradura de Oro and the Ballet Folklorico Alma de Mexico, a group of children and teenagers who performed traditional dances.@@same link as above@@

“I think it’s really great that this community is celebrating Dia de los Muertos and that so many people are here. It’s just awesome that this community is really supporting that, and offering a different cultural way of looking at death and kind of an alternative to Halloween,” said University senior Hannah Hirsekorn.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Hannah+Hirsekorn@@
Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a celebration that takes place throughout Mexico, Central and South America and increasingly in North America. On Nov. 1 and 2 the dead are thought to return to the land of the living to share in activities with their friends and families. Many families create altars in honor of the dead, most of which feature favorite foods, drinks, flowers, pictures and other items.
Five of these altars, created by community members and organizations, were featured in the event.
The exhibit, including 26 artists from Eugene to Olympia, Wash., presents different views of death and of Dia de los Muertos. The artwork was created using a number of different mediums, including acrylic, oil and pastel paints, polymer clay and photography, and includes many multimedia pieces. The artwork included images of skeletons dancing and singing, sitting playfully, smiling and playing instruments onstage.
“Generally it’s a different type of art than what I’m used to, but I really like that there’s a different impression on the basic culture. It’s a little different than you normally see in galleries, the themes that they portray,” frequent Art Center visitor Michael Bulliam said. @@not verified. probably not this guy, but I dunno: http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Michael+Bullis@@
Some of these differences depended on the artist’s own preference, as well as familiarity with the holiday.
For Caroline Louise McNabb, a Eugene artist who presented several pieces in the exhibit, her own preference toward certain mediums as well as her particular interest in Dia de los Muertos influenced her work.@@http://tinyurl.com/3vcdr3m@@
“In my academic life, I’ve done a lot of research with Mexican and Mexican-American culture, and in my personal life I make art using animal bones. I’m really fascinated with death and mortality,” she said.
Whether you’re interested in death or not, this event is often one of the most attended exhibits of the year at the Art Center, according to Johnna Harms, a volunteer at the Center who has been attending the Dia de los Muertos exhibit for 15 years.@@http://www.whitepages.com/name/Johnna-Harms@@
“It seems like this event, in my opinion, gets a lot more publicity because it is unique. And, because we’ve been doing it for 18 years now, people are becoming more familiar with it,” she said. “People don’t see this kind of artwork all the time.”
The Dia de los Muertos exhibit will be featured at the Maude Kerns Art Center from from Oct. 14 to Nov. 4 and is free to the public.