"Dia de los Muertos"

"Dia de los Muertos" is a very important Mexican holiday that is celebrated in Mexico and parts of the United States every year on November 2nd.  In Engllish, "Dia de los Muertos" is translated to Day of the Dead.  During this day, people celebrate by remembering loved one that have passed away.  There are many traditional ways of celebrating; some of which include building altars in remembrance of loved ones, dressing up as skeletons, dancing, eating special foods (like Pan de Muerto), a procession or parade, a name call of the deceased, and decorating gravesites with flowers and marigolds.  Often, people will also tell stories retelling fond memories of loved ones lost. 

Another big activity is making sugar skulls and using them to decorate.  A sugar skull is a skull made out of sugar that is decorated with icing.  The sugar skull image has spread through the culture of "Dia de los Muertos" to include costumes, artwork, and more.  In this lesson, students drew a sugar skull with silver sharpe on black construcion paper to create a stark contrast of lights and darks.

Every year, I attend the Day of the Dead festival at Bare Hands art gallery in downtown Birmingham.  It is a fabulous event with food, drinks, dancing, costumes and loads of wonderful art!