Lawrence's Día de los Muertos event will pay special tribute to deceased grandparents and elders; community invited to celebrate

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

Juan Hernández Rodríguez, a third-generation master cartonero from Guanajuato, Mexico, works with Sylvia Trevino-Maack on a catrina during a workshop on Monday, October 28, 2024.

Amid an election year with much focus on what divides us, an upcoming Día de los Muertos community event will pay tribute to loved ones who have passed away, with a special focus on what unites us.

The community group Somos Lawrence, which is organizing the event in partnership with the Senior Resource Center for Douglas County and the Percolator Artist Collective, will dedicate this year’s main altar to the lives of deceased grandparents and elders. Araceli Masterson-Algar, an organizer at Somos Lawrence, said that especially against the backdrop of a divisive election year, the group wanted to honor a memory we all share.

“It’s something we all have in common, to have grandparents or elders who influenced us, so we wanted to honor them,” Masterson-Algar said. “We wanted to dedicate it to a collective that we are all clearly connected to.”

The rituals honoring the dead as part of Día de los Muertos, which are simultaneously joyful and sad celebrations, begin on October 26 and end on All Souls’ Day on November 2. As in previous years, Somos Lawrence will hold a free community event on November 2 featuring the community altar, individual family altars and a major interactive artwork. Ahead of the event, artisans from Mexico held workshops to help participants create the colorful papier-mâché skeletal figures, or catrinas, and other works of art seen on Día de los Muertos altars and celebrations.

Juan Hernández Rodríguez, a third-generation master cartonero from Guanajuato, Mexico, has returned to Lawrence for a second year to lead the workshops, and this year he is joined by his son Tonatiuh Hernández Pacheco. As part of the workshops, which started on October 23, Juan Hernández helped Somos Lawrence participants create figurines for the event’s main artwork, which this year will be a Mexican Tree of Life. Tonatiuh Hernández started a workshop on Sunday with the youth group Somos Lawrence, where participants will create two approximately 2.5 meter high catrinas that will also be part of the event.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

A catrina, or skeleton statue, extends an arm to a butterfly.

Both groups will come together in a final workshop, which Masterson-Algar says speaks to the value of the collaborative spaces at the heart of the activities. She said that especially for families where parents may work long hours, sometimes without a day off, the ability to gather may be limited, and those that are available may be less accessible due to cost or language.

“It’s a way to open up venues for more inclusive collaborations between people who may be participating a little less than others in many of the opportunities that are available in Lawrence,” Masterson-Algar said.

Like the altar dedicated to grandparents and the elderly, she emphasizes that the tree of life sculpture underlines the idea of interconnectedness and intergenerational cooperation. The tree, made using the Percolator, is made of paper mache and cardboard. Following the artistic traditions of the Mexican Tree of Life, the tree’s branches will be filled with many objects representing life – such as flowers, butterflies, birds and musical instruments – that Somos Lawrence participants will create during the workshop with Juan Hernández. Masterson-Algar said the tree of life speaks of the connections between us and previous generations, and the continuity between them.

“We are all part of that larger tree of life that consists of so many generations that we can trace, and also many generations that we cannot trace,” she said.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

Leslie Perales, left, Elizabeth García and Austin Silva García work on papier-mâché figures while talking with Araceli Masterson-Algar, second from right, an organizer at Somos Lawrence.

The artwork also gives the general public the opportunity to participate in the Día de los Muertos event on Saturday. Masterson-Algar said visitors can add paper leaves to the tree that they can fill in with a word or phrase that reminds them of a person they want to remember. The event is free and open to the public and will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Common Ground Community Garden at John Taylor Park, 200 N. Seventh St. The public is welcome to walk among the altars, which will be on display throughout . the garden. Hot chocolate, tamales and Mexican sweet bread are served.

Setting up the community altar begins at 10 a.m. Saturday and everyone is welcome to stop by throughout the day to contribute flowers, notes, artwork, photos of loved ones and other offerings. There is still room for families who want to make their own altars, but they must contact Somos Lawrence at [email protected] or via text at 785-813-1098 before 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Somos Lawrence, housed in the Ballard Center next to John Taylor Park, is a community organization dedicated to advocating for effective and culturally informed outreach to underrepresented, Spanish-speaking residents of Douglas County. Other partners at the event include the Ballard Center, Common Ground and Big Brothers Big Sisters. The event is supported by a grant from the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council, and workshop space is provided by the Sunrise Project and SeedCo Studios.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

Leslie Perales and Elizabeth García are working on papier-mâché figures that will be part of the Mexican Tree of Life artwork for Saturday’s Día de los Muertos event.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

Families work on papier-mâché figures for the Mexican Tree of Life during a Somos Lawrence workshop with master cartonero Juan Hernández Rodríguez on October 28, 2024 at the Sunrise Project.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

Ceneyda Sierra and Monserrat Lorenzo, in the foreground, work on papier-mâché figures that will be part of the Mexican Tree of Life artwork for Saturday’s Día de los Muertos event.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

A catrina, or skeleton statue, is depicted on October 28, 2024, during a Somos Lawrence workshop led by master cartonero Juan Hernández Rodríguez.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

Maria Alfaro and José Flores are working on papier-mâché figures that will be part of the Mexican Tree of Life artwork for Saturday’s Día de los Muertos event.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

Families work on papier-mâché figures for the Mexican Tree of Life during a Somos Lawrence workshop with master cartonero Juan Hernández Rodríguez on October 28, 2024 at the Sunrise Project.