The Silver City Museum will offer a series of craft classes with a Dia de los Muertos theme during the public schools' fall break. Classes will be held 10 am - 12 noon Tuesday through Friday, October 11-14, 2011. Pending good weather, classes will be held outside in the Museum Courtyard. If the weather is rainy or very cold, the classes will be moved inside to the Museum Annex at 302 West Broadway.
Four classes will present traditional craft-making to elementary-aged children, in honor of Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday, which is celebrated to honor our ancestors. The class schedule will be as follows:
The Papel Picado class will be taught by artist, educator and community scholar Peter Garcia. Garcia has many years of experience as a community organizer and cultural worker, working as an artist and activist in the arts, healthcare, humanities, and social work. His intricate papel picado pieces cover a range of themes, including family, politics, spiritual life and love.
The Matchbox Altars class will be taught by Carmen Ruiz. Ruiz is an award- winning visual artist working in photography, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, graphic design and video, who has been teaching art to children for over 25 years. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, in Silver City she has taught at the public schools' art program and at the Guadalupe Montessori School summer camp. She has been inspired by Mexican, New Mexican and Texan communal and personal altars. Ruiz came to photograph shrines through her interest in peoples of the world. She found shrines in peoples' gardens, cars, homes, on dresser tops, refrigerators and in pockets. "Whether we realize it or not, we all live with shrines," Ruiz is quick to point out. "It may be a display of photos of loved ones on a desk, a special stone in a corner of the garden or a collection of refrigerator magnets. There are no rules!" she says.
The Tissue Paper Marigolds and Sugar Skull Decorating classes will be taught by Museum staff and volunteers. "We are so excited that more children are coming to the Museum, and have more to do when they're here," comments Curator of Education Jessa Tumposky. Tumposky notes that the Museum staff is working in collaboration with several local artists and community members to build a Dia de los Muertos altar at the Museum, which will open on October 25 and stay up in the Museum's Front Gallery until November 6. "It will be an altar for the whole community, for anyone who wants to honor an ancestor in this community space. I hope some children who take our craft classes decide to contribute to the altar as well," says Tumposky.
For the Craft Class series, there will be a $5 fee per class, or $15 for all 4 classes. Museum Society members can pay $4 per class, $12 for all 4 classes. The classes are geared towards elementary school-aged children, and parent/guardian attendance is required. Register in advance with Jessa at 538-5921 or
The Silver City Museum creates opportunities for residents and visitors to explore, understand and celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of southwestern New Mexico by collecting, preserving, researching and interpreting the region's unique history. For more information about the Museum's programming, please contact staff at (575) 538-5921 or
