By Randi Bjornstad
Now in its 31st year, there’s no way to describe Día de los Muertos at the Maude Kerns Art Center as anything but a Eugene tradition.
This year’s celebration is underway through Saturday, Nov. 2, and as always it features a wide range of artwork, displays of traditional Mexican altars, or ofrendas, and a Day of the Dead gift shop offering crafts created by Mexican artists, organized by Suzanne Algara of Buganvilla Imports.
This year’s celebration also offers something special — a 15-foot sculpture called Catrina del teatro, which was created by Alejandro IV Barragán, who founded Día de Muertos Oregon, and mother-daughter artists Palma Corral and Ithea Engum-Coral.
The piece, a Catrina skeleton figure holding an illuminated scroll, was designed for display in The Armory, a Portland theater space, and it incorporates an amalgam of cultural and artistic themes including Aztec mythology, Vedanta texts, and Mexican, Hindu, European, and North American cultures.
But as they say, that’s not all, folks. The celebration also includes a display of a wide variety of art prints by Mexican printmakers Alejandro IV Barragán, Indio Sin Dios, Susana Lilia González, Yokebed Islas, Violeta Juárez, Eduardo Martinez, Cocotzin Prieto, Eric Pozos Vásquez, Fausto Xaro, plus a variety of artwork by 23 additional area artists.
For those not familiar with the history of this venerable holiday, Día de los Muertos draws its traditions from the ancient harvest rituals of the early indigenous people of Mexico, melding them with the later Roman Catholic rituals of All Souls Day and All Saints Day (Nov. 1 and 2) that were brought to — and imposed upon — the people of Central America by the Spanish Conquistadors.
Día de los Muertos 2024
When: Through Nov. 2
Where: Maude Kerns Art Center, 1910 E. 15th Ave., Eugene (corner of 15th and Villard streets)
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday
Information: 541-345-1571 or online at mkartcenter.org
