Art Center East in La Grande celebrates Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) starting Nov. 1.

LA GRANDE — Art Center East’s annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) community gathering and youth art exhibit returns Oct. 27 through Nov. 11.

A free, family-friendly community gathering on Oct. 27, 6-8 p.m., coincides with the opening reception for the annual exhibit that features artworks created by Union County K-12 students inspired by Mexican folk-art traditions associated with Día de los Muertos.

New this year is a broadside poetry exhibit, “Poems of Loss and Suspiro,” in ACE’s Main Gallery that showcases the work of local artist and poet Amelia Díaz Ettinger.

A community “ofrenda” (altar) is also part of ACE’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration. Community members of all ages are invited to add to the ofrenda throughout the duration of the exhibit by bringing photographs or mementos that honor their loved ones who have passed away. Visit the ofrenda and exhibits through Nov. 11.

ACE will open its doors on Wednesday, Nov. 1, and Thursday, Nov. 2, from 6-7 p.m. for community members to visit the galleries and community altar during the quiet evening hours to remember and honor their loved ones. Candles will illuminate the ofrenda and gallery lighting will be low.

Ettinger will give a poetry reading during the candlelit reflection time on Nov. 1 at 6:30 p.m.

Día de los Muertos

Día de los Muertos is a Mexican national holiday that celebrates the joys of life and offers an opportunity to honor loved ones who have passed away. This celebration is cheerful and playful rather than mournful and sad, and its traditions highlight the importance of family, both living and dead.

Día de los Muertos is traditionally celebrated in Mexico and Central and South America but has also become a widely celebrated holiday in the United States and other countries worldwide. The holiday highlights the beauty and the brevity of life and the importance of remembering and honoring ancestors.

Día de Los Muertos came about as a fusion between the Catholic holidays All Saint’s Day (Nov. 1), 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 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 ones’ resting places to the family home.