Walters Art Museum Announces Día De Los Muertos Celebrations
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Halloween is right around the corner and so, too, is Día de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday celebrating friends and family who have passed on.
Between now and Nov. 7, visitors to the Walters Art Museum can mark the holiday by picking up an art kit to make an ofrenda, or offering, to leave at an altar designed by artist Edgar Reyes.
The museum is also holding an online conversation on Oct. 28 with Reyes and fellow artists Jessy Desantis and Alondra Flores, who will discuss their personal traditions for the holiday.
The exhibit "Translations and Transitions / Traducciones y Transiciones" is on view until Nov. 7, displaying works from Indigenous societies in what is now Mexico and Central America.
"This year, we are excited to offer personal ofrenda kits as well as virtual and in-person programs featuring a range of voices representing Central American traditions," said Theresa Sotto, the museum's director of learning and community engagement. "As we reconnect with and share in the arts and culture of so many different communities throughout Baltimore, we are particularly mindful of the loss of life that has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope our community altar, or ofrenda, can act as a public space for people to come together in collective grieving and healing through the arts."
There will also be virtual art-making sessions, online tours and other events.
Last year, nearly 1,200 people participated in virtual Día de los Muertos hosted by the Walters, the museum said.
