On Saturday, October 29, from 10:00 AM-Noon, The Maxwell Museum will host a free Family Day to learn about and celebrate Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), a traditional Mexican/Mexican-American celebration of life, love, and gratitude. Children and their families are invited to The Maxwell to create artistic and personal remembrances in celebration of an ancestor, community member, or pet who has passed away. In addition, families will have the opportunity to add to Maxwell's communal ofrenda, or altar, and view an exhibit of traditional Día de Muertos celebrations and altars.
The event will take place across The Maxwell's multiple spaces: the museum's courtyard, The Hibben Center, and the museum itself. Activities will include contributing to the communal ofrenda, making paper flowers and papel picado, decorating sugar skulls, story time, writing musical jingles of remembrance, writing letters/poems, and tin frame decorating. If the weather is cool/rainy, the event will be inside The Maxwell Museum and The Hibben Center.
Santa Fe-based author and photographer, Ann Murdy, will be at the event to sign copies of her limited-run book, “On the Path of Marigolds — Living Traditions of México’s Day of the Dead.” This award-winning bilingual photography book illustrates how Indigenous communities in Mexico participate in this celebration of life. Books will be available to purchase in the Maxwell Museum’s gift shop.
K-12 teachers: Click here! UNM's Latin American & Iberian Institute offers a curriculum in both Spanish and English that is adaptable across grades to celebrate and learn more about Dia de Muertos with your students! The curriculum packet includes history and context, storybook recommendations, poems, articles, and activities.
Parking is available in the large C Lot on the north end of the museum (click here for a map).
Looking forward to celebrating and remembering in community with you! Click here to register and RSVP.
Maxwell Family Day events are supported by the Passport to People Gift Fund with special thanks to Elaine and Garth Bawden. If you would like to sponsor a Family Day or other educational program, contact Curator of Education Sara Hiris at shiris@unm.edu
*Featured photo: "A home Día de Muertos altar in the Ñuu Savi (Mixtec) Indigenous town of El Jicaral, Oaxaca, Mexico. Photo by: Julián Antonio Carrillo, 2016.*
