COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 18, 2022) — The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College is excited to announce their upcoming Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration, Nov. 1-2, 2022. The two-day celebration includes live performances and hands-on art activities.
Día de Muertos is a celebration of life and death that demonstrates love and respect for deceased family members. The tradition originated in various indigenous cultures and is celebrated throughout Latin America and parts of the United States. In the 1970s, California artists involved in the Chicano Movement took up the traditions of Día de Muertos to celebrate and connect with their indigenous roots and to express ideas of social justice. In 2008, it was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The Fine Arts Center is grateful for the generosity and hard work of our community consultants. Artists Jerry Vigil and Cal Duran, as well as Colorado College Spanish professor and Cultural Program Coordinator, Mariana Rodríguez-Espinoza, helped shape the program for 2022.
Within our community ofrenda, we are excited to present the work “WE ARE ALL CONNECTED,” an installation by Denver based artist Cal Duran. The Fine Arts Center celebration begins Friday, Oct. 21 with this installation from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Art has been a portal to channel my indigenous ancestors, where I slip under an emotional spinning vortex of creation,” said Duran.
“The makers of my blood flow through me. I channel the artisans, craft-makers, mud-dwellers, star-makers, dream-weavers and earth-brothers and sisters — the ones who paved the way and forged the path. My work carries spirit, and my truth is in everything I create.”
Ofrendas created by students from seven local schools and community organizations will also be displayed at the museum Oct. 12-Nov. 6. “Ofrendas” are altars created to honor a deceased person and are traditionally filled with food, flowers, and candles. Over the past two months, students spent time learning about the tradition and creating their own “ofrendas” reflective of their own contexts and communities. Students from Cheyenne Mountain Jr. High School, Grand Mountain School, Harrison High School, Palmer High School, Widefield Elementary School of the Arts, Peak Education, and the Stroud Scholars Program will feature their work in the museum galleries. Dancers from Harrison and Palmer will also perform at the event on Nov. 1 and 2.
In addition to the altars created by Duran and local students, the exhibition “Chicanx Landscapes” will be on view. This exhibition explores landscapes as a system of ecology, history, culture and belonging from a Chicanx perspective with new works presented by the interdisciplinary artist collaborative, Desert ArtLAB.
The celebration continues Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 1 and 2, 4 to 8 p.m. with free museum admission, artist demonstrations, performances, food, activities led by Colorado College’s Mobile Arts Truck, and more. Colorado College’s Mariachi Tigre ensemble will perform Mexican popular and folk music. Mexican folk dance groups Ballet Folklórico de la Raza, Ballet Folklórico de Barajas, Grupo Folklórico Sabor Latino of Denver will also perform. Bemis School of Art instructors will guide visitors in hands-on activities including creating tissue paper marigolds and sugar skulls. Additionally, visitors will have the opportunity to have an up-close viewing of a selection of objects from the Mexican Folk Art collection. There will even be a special appearance by Satya Jnani Chávez and Brian Quijada, starring in a limited run concert of original music “Songs from the Border” on the Fine Arts Center mainstage Nov. 3-6.
“It is truly a blessing to be able to participate in this year’s Fine Arts Center Dia de Los Muertos celebration. This is just one way to remember and pay respect to our ancestors and those loved ones who have passed. While it is customary to remember our loved ones with items such as pan de Muerto (bread of the dead), sugar skulls and many other offerings, we also celebrate them through music, dance and arts. We must remember that our dead are never truly dead to us, until we stop speaking their name or they are forgotten,” said Leonor Gonzales, Ballet Folklorico de Barajas Director.
This event has been made possible in part by grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and The Colorado Trust.
Care and Share Food Drive
We are proud to be partnering with Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado to collect non-perishable food items for our neighbors in need across Southern Colorado. Everyone who contributes will receive a free museum admission pass.
More from the FAC
Museum free days are offered the second Saturday and third Friday of each month.
PLEASE NOTE: Exposure to COVID-19 is possible in public places. See COVID guidelines and requirements.
ABOUT THE FINE ARTS CENTER
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College
The story of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College (FAC) began with the founding of the Broadmoor Art Academy 1919. A museum, performing arts theatre, and community art school, the FAC is a pillar in the cultural community of the Rocky Mountain West providing innovative, educational, and multi-disciplinary arts experiences designed to elevate the individual spirit and inspire community vitality. The FAC and Colorado College recognize and honor the original inhabitants of the land on which it resides. For more information about the FAC, visit devfac.coloradocollege.edu or follow on Facebook @CSFineArtsCenter.
Land Acknowledgement
Colorado College occupies the traditional territories of the Nuchu, known today as the Southern Ute Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Northern Ute People, who lost their beloved homelands due to colonization, forced relocation, and land theft. Other tribes have also lived here including the Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Comanche — and notably, continue to do so, along with many other Indigenous Peoples. To actively seek social justice, we acknowledge that the land continues to hold the values and traditions of the original inhabitants and caretakers of this land. We pay honor and respect to their ancestors, elders, and youth — past, present, and future.
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