Pepita is Art Center East’s Día de los Muertos mascot. This year, ACE is offering youth take-and-make kits that include everything needed to make a plushy like Pepita.

LA GRANDE — Art Center East will host a free community celebration for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, from 6-8 p.m. at the center, 1006 Penn Ave. The family-friendly event will feature an exhibit of Day of the Dead-themed artwork created by Grande Ronde Valley K-12 students, as well as a community ofrenda — an altar that honors loved ones have passed away.

The Oct. 29 celebration will offer family activities with ACE’s Take & Make Art Kits for all ages. Kits may be picked up at the celebration. Youth and teen kits are free age 17 or younger. Adult kits are available for purchase. The Take & Make Art Kits include four vegetarian or meat tamales from La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant & Lounge. Día de los Muertos Take & Make Art Kits are also available without tamales. Pre-order now at https://artcentereast.org/events/dia-de-los-muertos/#kits.

Community members are invited to add to the ofrenda by bringing photographs or mementos that honor their loved ones who have passed away. Stop by the gallery Oct. 29 through Nov. 4 to place items on the altar. Photographs and mementos may be picked up on Nov. 10. ACE will have tea light candles available for a $1 donation.

The art exhibit and altar will be on display in the art center’s Main Gallery through Nov. 10. The exhibit and community celebration are free and open to the public.

ACE is open noon-5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday. Exhibits can also be viewed online at www.artcentereast.org.

About Día de Los Muertos

Día de Los Muertos came about as a fusion of the Catholic holidays All Saint’s Day (Nov. 1) and All Soul’s Day (Nov. 2) and the ancestor-honoring traditions of indigenous Mexico. Día de los Muertos sugar skulls (calaveras) and costumed skeletons (calacas) are commonly seen as an extension of Halloween imagery in the United States, but they are not intended to be spooky.

Holiday festivities include Mexican folk art, vibrant colors, music, parades, happy reminiscing with family and lots of good food. Families prepare for this cheerful, celebratory day by tidying and decorating their ancestors’ graves, preparing a feast of foods their ancestors loved, and laying a pathway of marigolds from their loved one’s resting place to the family’s home.