A 10-foot tall skeleton in a sombrero leaned over to ask if I knew what time it was.
Which is not that weird when you’re at a Día de los Muertos celebration with skeletons everywhere – on banners, as sculptures, painted on kids’ faces, and for sale on tote bags.
So, of course, there would be a skeleton with stilts, a full beard, and no watch.
When you think about it, the lack of a timepiece may be the least surprising part. Schedules are probably pretty irrelevant in the realm of the dead.
Phillip, Quijote, and I had showed up near the end of Mesa Arts Center’s festival. We started at the custom car show and worked our way toward an oversized Frida Kahlo skull made from tissue paper flowers, stopping to listen to a band on the way.
We visited the community altar, which was decorated with photos, candles, art, and flowers in memory of departed loved ones.
On a second stage, Mariachi Pasion, an all-woman mariachi band, began playing.
When Quijote got restless, we moved on to check out the arts and crafts vendors. There were handcrafted decorations, jewelry, papel picado banners, and small ceramics that looked like ones we had seen in Peru.
Now it was 4:30 – half an hour before it was all scheduled to be over – and the party showed no signs of stopping.
In fact, it was still so crowded that our stilt-walking friend had trouble getting through. The bands played on, vendors continued to serve up churros and hot dogs and tamales and paletas, and there was still a line to get into the craft-making area.
As we walked away, the celebration continued behind us – everyone enjoying the moment, like time was irrelevant.
The building had been a high school for African American students from 1926 to 1953, which I didn’t even know about until we stumbled across it. I guess I had assumed that, since the Phoenix population didn’t really start booming until the ’60s, maybe we had just skipped the whole segregation thing. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
However, Arizona did desegregate its schools a year before Brown v. Board of Education mandated it nationally. The Carver High School closed, and the students were integrated into other high schools.
In 1986, four Carver alumnae formed Phoenix Monarchs Alumni Association, an organization to preserve the building and turn it into a museum and cultural center. They were eventually able to purchase it, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
The George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center is now open with a mission to honor African and African American heritage, arts, and culture.
The Phoenix Monarchs Alumni Association continues to raise funds to upgrade the space and offer additional programs and exhibits.
In front of the museum is a statue of its namesake, scientist George Washington Carver, holding one of the peanut plants he was famous for studying.
We explored the first floor and saw artwork like paintings, sculptures, and a quilt made by students who had gone to school there.
There was a room with vintage typewriters and sewing machines.
Another one had what looked like African artifacts and traditional craft, like masks, drums, and beaded gourd instruments, as well as contemporary paintings, and a violin.
Outside of Art Detour week, I think a volunteer guide is usually there to provide context and answer questions, because a lot of the items weren’t labeled. The museum had a work-in-progress feel, as funds are still being raised to improve the building and exhibition space. It will be exciting to see it transform!
When the nights get longer, so many traditions celebrate light.
Elements like candles, lanterns, and bonfires – as well as the sun, moon, or stars – often play an important part in autumn/winter holidays. Think of Christmas (and Advent), Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Lucia, Moon Festival, and Yule.
In the Southern Hemisphere, this season happens around their winter solstice in June with traditions like the Andean Inti Raymi (“Sun Celebration”) and the Maōri New Year, Matariki (“Pleiades constellation”).
Whatever your source, may you find the light and warmth in your life to guide you through every season of darkness.
An unusual expedition set sail from San Francisco in 1926.
It was composed entirely of two women with cigarette tins full of art supplies in tow. Their destination was the South Pacific. And their mission was to document cultures in danger of disappearing.
Artist Caroline Mytinger and her partner Margaret Warner did not seem fazed by the western dismissal of Melanesians as ruthless headhunters. In fact, Mytinger often turned the phrase around, referring to the search for faces to paint as her own “headhunt.”
We travel along, not just through the Pacific but through time, as the film superimposes past and present. Its cinematographic shots are interspersed with grainy archival footage of traditional dances, art, and daily life on the islands. Westmorland’s narration dovetails with excerpts of Mytinger’s writings (as voiced by Lauren Hutton).
Elders, artisans, and family of Mytinger’s original portrait subjects share stories that give us a window into their worlds and the lives of their ancestors.
One of the artists we meet is Papua New Guinean painter Jeffry Feeger, who created a series of portraits that parallel Mytinger’s. His subjects come from the same places but are dressed in street clothes, rather than the traditional attire.
Mytinger’s portraits are like a colorful time capsule. The film is an equally vibrant exploration of the people, places, and traditions behind the paintings.
Decorating sugar skulls at CraftHack this time last year prompted me to learn more about Día de los Muertos and the handmade elements of this tradition.
Community altar in Tucson.
“Day of the Dead, or Día de los muertos, is a time for commemorating the dead, celebrating with family— both living and dead—and appreciating the cycle of life and death.”
When you lose someone you love, they don’t stop being part of your life. They remain in your heart and your memories. There’s something beautiful about recognizing and honoring this presence.
A Day of the Dead Altar via Elba Valverde.
La Ofrenda / Altar
One way to do this is by making a small altar (ofrenda) for the October 31 – November 2 celebration.
“Making a Day of the Dead Altar is about memories and traditions and the most important part is that you enjoy the process … add [your] own special touches … add the four elements, water, wind, earth and fire in some way, the picture of your beloved one, food, flowers and candles.”
Colorfully decorated sugar skulls are probably the most iconic element in Day of the Dead celebrations. You can purchase blank sugar skulls that are ready for you to personalize. Or you can use a mold to make your own from sugar, white chocolate, or (if you’re not going to eat them) plaster of Paris!
Plaster of Paris Sugar Skulls via Kathy Cano-Murillo.
When we did them at CraftHack, our friend Shanlyn led the demonstration. She brought in plain white sugar skulls she had made at home and showed us how to decorate them with frosting, sprinkles, and sanding sugar.
Shanlyn’s sugar skull demo at CraftHack.
I covered mine in slightly sparkly black sugar to give it a different look. Then I added flower sprinkles on top to give it a Frida Kahlo-esque headpiece. It didn’t come out perfectly, but it I had fun trying it out!
Sugar Skulls in Other Craft Projects
The sugar skull motif pops up all over the place – especially this time of year! A few crafty examples…
Via Berene Campbell.
Embroidery – Berene Campbell (Happy Sew Lucky) created this cute pattern that features a sugar skull with scissors behind it, like a crafters’ pirate flag!
Via Elba Valverde.
Cupcake toppers – This design is one of the free printables Elba Valverde offers on her site, Live Colorful!
Day of the Dead Planters – Regina Lord painted terra cotta pots to look like sugar skulls and then planted succulents in them. The tutorial is at Creative Kismet.
2. Paper (napkin) flowers – Using paper napkins in place of tissue paper will help the flowers hold their shape. It would be fun to experiment with different color combinations and textures! (I added some cute ones to this Party collection.)
Via Nikki Wills.
3. Mini Tissue Paper Flowers – A similar process on a much smaller scale! For these, you actually use a scalloped circle paper punch to create the “petal” shapes in the layers of tissue paper.
Via Vianney Rodriguez.
4. Marigold Margarita – Vianney Rodriguez made her own marigold-infused tequila with organic dried petals. Then she added citrus juice, cointreau, and salt around the rim.
What traditions are meaningful to you as you remember your loved ones?
Updated November 2023. Originally posted October 2017.
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