A cemetery installation is featured as part of this year's Altar Exhibit.
The Museum of South Texas History’s annual Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead Altar Exhibit is open to the public now through Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. View traditional altars and a cemetery installation that demonstrate the tradition of celebrating life during this important holiday.
More than ten altars are included in the Altar Exhibit located in the museum’s Courtyard Gallery and Grand Lobby. Each altar is lovingly made by volunteers from the community and commemorates the lives of departed loved ones and/or admired individuals. Odette MacDonald, known to many in the Valley as columnist Madame Gourmande, participates by creating an altar in memory of her mother Amorcito Ramirez de Castellanos. MacDonald explains, while admiring her parents’ classic wedding photograph, “Creating this altar for my mother has been a beautiful experience. I picked items that were special to her and that also remind me of what a wonderful wife, mother and friend she was.” Sisters Stephanie Salazar and Kathy Castro have dedicated their altar to healer Don Pedrito Jaramillo. “Many years ago, our grandparents made a pilgrimage to visit Don Pedrito in Falfurrias, TX. Since then, he has inspired our family and is the reason we make natural botanical products.”
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Along with the altars, this year’s exhibit features a representation of a panteon or cemetery illuminated by color and light. The back drop for the cemetery is an enlarged copy of a painting by local artist Beatriz Guzmán Velásquez that beautifully captures the spirit of traditional cemeteries during Day of the Dead. The original painting entitled Luminosity and other pieces of Velásquez’s work will also be on display through Nov 18. Museum special events and programming officer Melissa Tijerina explains, “We strive to create a family-friendly atmosphere and to educate the public of the significance of this well respected holiday. Celebrating the role cemeteries play during Day of the Dead is an important part of our borderland heritage.”
The Altar Exhibit is included in regular museum admission. FRIENDS of the museum are admitted free as a benefit of FRIENDships. For information on the event or becoming a FRIEND of the museum, call 956.383.6911 or click here. The Museum of South Texas History is located at 200 North Closner Boulevard on the Hidalgo County Courthouse square in downtown Edinburg.
Click here to view photos from the museum's Day of the Dead event that took place on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012.
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