Children sat at tables decorating sugar cane calacas with purple and pink icing. On either side of the street, booths crowded together with jewelry, figurines, candles and masks for sale. Dancers in South Mountain Ballet Folklórico moved in step with “La Negra,” twirling their flowing skirts with each stride.
Viva La Vida!: Día de los Muertos Festival presented by the Arizona Latino Arts & Cultural Center fills the void that program coordinator Marcelino Quiñonez saw in the community. The festival, which honored the dead in the traditional Mexican style, was held from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday on Adams Street spanning First and Second streets.
Street closures were funded with the help of sponsors including the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, APS, Latino Vibe, La Campesina radio and Jose Cuervo Tradicional.
“(The Arizona Latino Arts and Cultural Center) being here … in the heart of downtown Phoenix, it is important that we bring such an important tradition to downtown,” Quiñonez said.
It is custom that on Nov. 2 each year, the Hispanic community gathers to honor loved ones that have passed with altars adorned with flowers, pictures or food. This tradition is known as Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead.
ALAC holds art exhibits every First Friday, and Día de los Muertos fell on the first Friday of November this year. Quiñonez said the marriage of the events influenced them to start their first community festival.
Jeffrey Lazos-Ferns, an artist from California, was invited by ALAC to showcase the altar he created for medicine men and women. Dried chili peppers and mesquite spread around the altar represent the tools of indigenous medicine men. Lazos-Ferns added sunflower seeds, his brother’s favorite snack, to honor his memory and flowers as a symbol of transition in life. At the floor lay a “pan de muerto,” a circular loaf of bread that the souls of the dead are said to inhabit during the night of Día de los Muertos.
For those who weren’t able to create their own altars at home, ALAC designed a community altar that locals were invited to contribute to. People were encouraged to bring any small item that represented a lost loved one.
Meredith Lee, 51, a local poet, said she came seeking a “connection with people through death.” Her stepfather passed away last week.
Throughout the night, musical performances by Cesar Chaves Duran, the rock band Dos Manos, Guadalupe Yaqui dancers and of the Mexican folk dance Ollin Yoliztli played as people made their way through the festival.
A variety of booths lined Adams Street; face painting in the style of the Día de los Muertos male and female skeletons — catrin and catrinas — were available. Artists were able to rent booths for $125 to benefit ALAC’s nonprofit mission of “promoting the culture through the arts.” Booths offered a variety of Día de los Muertos inspired trinkets including Roman Reyes’ decorative painted masks.
Artists from ALAC put together special Día de los Muertos exhibits that will be available for viewing until the end of November in the ALAC main exhibition space, Galeria 147. “El Corazón de Aztlán: La Visita de los Muertos” features skeletal Día de los Muertos-inspired paintings from artists including Lalo Cota, El Vaquero Muerto, Monica Gisel Crespo and Angel Diaz.
“Ofrendas”, one of the month-long exhibits, honors both Latino and Native American veterans. José Andrés Girón, the curator of the exhibit, said Father Albert Braun inspired his altar. The altar was adorned with flowers, photos of Braun throughout his life, pastries and even a bottle of Cholula hot sauce. Braun, a decorated army chaplain and World War II prisoner of war, founded Sacred Heart Church in Phoenix, where Girón said he served mass as an altar boy.
Toward the end of the event, Phoenix City Councilman Michael Nowakowski spoke about ALAC and his hope for Adams through First and Second streets to be permanently closed in the future to create a Mexican plaza for mariachi music and art appreciation.
“We want this candle … to light the whole city of Phoenix, to light the whole state of Arizona and to show how through culture, through the arts, through singing and dancing we are going to unite our communities and we are going to come together as one,” Nowakowski said.
His speech was followed by a candlelight procession leading to the community altar where people could drop their offerings and reminisce of their loved ones.
“(Día de los Muertos) is basically about celebrating death as part of life rather than the end of it,” said Clarita Floyd-Sanchez, volunteer coordinator.
Contact the reporter at clongbon@asu.edu
