Google/Blogger is doing something new - they are inserting links on their own. I've tried to delete all of them - but there might be a few that sneak in. Most of the links are things that might clarify the various topics.
My first mention of the Day of the Dead project was on April 23, 2025. I had been working on it since early February. This page puts all the various posts from April through October into a more cohesive story.
Day of the Dead (DOD) is a celebration that started with the Aztecs and it has become a popular tradition - anywhere and everywhere. LINK to Wikipedia for more DOD information
The Des Moines Art Center (DMAC) has been celebrating DOD for 25 years. On the blog, I refer to the DMAC as "the museum where I taught for many years" or "the museum in my back yard." It was established in 1948 and the name Art Center was chosen over Museum because the founders knew that Des Moines was too small to establish a *museum quality* collection of historical art. They had to focus on collecting more affordable contemporary art - which at the time was "mid-century." To me, Art Center makes it sound like a little community activity center rather than a museum - so I just call it the museum.
I have heard snarky, local people say, "Sure. They (meaning the DMAC) have a Picasso. But it's a really bad one. It looks like he was just using up the paint that was left on his pallet at the end of the day." Personally, I have no gripe with the DMAC. It is what it is. They have a decent contemporary collection. What I like best - is that the founders made a point of putting a full 50% of the original building into an education wing with studios and they have a very strong studio arts program. The other 50% of the original building was gallery space. There have been two significant additions to the gallery space while the education wing is still the original size - but, I can see the logic behind that. At least they have updated the classroom studios.
In 2001 the DMAC was coaxed into trying a DOD event. Part of the event is the building of an ofrenda to honor people who have passed. Ofrenda is the Spanish word for altar. The ofrenda may honor one person or more than one. Sometimes the ofrenda honors an entire category of people such as veterans.
The DMAC ofrenda is constructed on a Thursday and Friday at the very end of October. It is built in the lobby and open for viewing while it is being built. On the following Sunday, the official DOD event is held. The celebration includes music, dancing, demonstrations, art activities for children, outdoor food vendors, etc. The event always draws the largest crowd of the year at the museum. The ofrenda stays up for two weeks.
The first DOD event was a big hit and the following year (2002) I was called in to help on the installation. For most of the next 10 years, I was invited to be on the team that built the ofrenda. I usually spent time on pieces that took a lot of time and were made well ahead of the installation. My specialty was cutting paper.
Because 2025 was the 25th anniversary of the DOD event, four of us who had been involved in the early years were called in to create a special ofrenda. The ofrenda would be honoring four people, including Gary McKay who was responsible for bringing the event to the museum and helping it grow. Those of us who had known Gary felt like this was a "hey-let's-get-the-old-band-together" moment.
Keith was the lead designer. I insisted that my role would be as an anonymous assistant to him. I am no longer doing volunteer work and did not want my name on the list of volunteers. The four of us had worked events over the past 25 years so we were a well oiled machine.
Keith sent me a simple line drawing. Four sides to the ofrenda. Three tiers. With a 2-ft skull on top and two flower covered arches. His initial idea was to feature a photo of each of the previous 24 ofrendas. There would be six photos on each of the four sides.
I provided a more detailed rendering for him to present to the committee at their January meeting. After I saw the photos from the past 24 years, I realized that at least half the photos were just snap shots. They were not worthy of a 25th anniversary ofrenda. I proposed that instead of photos we make a nicho inspired by each ofrenda.
A nicho is a small, shadow-box, folk art shrine. They come in all shapes and sizes and often honor someone who has passed. Each of the 24 previous ofrendas had a design element that could inspire a nicho design. Since there are no rules for what a nicho should look like, this opened the door for unlimited creativity.
It only took 12 calls for me to find 12 artist friends who were ready and willing to help on the project. Before we started on nichos we needed to make 750 flowers for the arches and corners. That took up most of the summer. While I intended to get that 2-foot skull done promptly, it turned into a scary last minute race with the clock.
I made it clear to Keith that I would provide flowers promptly to give him plenty of time to assemble the arches and corners. After he did one arch, he ordered another 250 flowers - so my team produced a total of 1,000 flowers. Some people made 50 while others made 350. Throughout the whole project we did not keep track of time. With 12 people I knew it would all work out.
Some of the nichos were made by one helper but most of them were collaborative projects utilizing the specific talents and interests of each artist.
These four photographs were taken by Erik Brockmeyer and show the 4 sides of the ofrenda
Following are photos of each ofrenda from the first 24 years when
a large altar was built in the lobby of the museum.
Below each of those ofrenda photos is a photo of the nicho (built this year)
that was inspired by the ofrenda.
***
The 2001 Ofrenda
This blurry photo is from 2001 and illustrates why I thought we needed something other than a photo of each of the previous ofrendas for the 25th anniversary ofrenda. It was four-sided and honored four people.
The design of the 25th anniversary ofrenda incorporated arches and honored four people.
The nicho below was inspired by the 2001 ofrenda.
It was one of the first I built and is not a favorite - but we had to start somewhere.
My sister-in-law Nancy made many skeletons, loaves of bread and flower arrangements.
Those details pulled things together.
***
The 2002 Ofrenda
One of my helpers, Nicole, asked to work on this one
because her sister-in-law had built the large skeleton in 2002.
We switched the scale, with a larger skeleton and a smaller yellow disc.
***
The 2003 Ofrenda
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and our nicho below
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Susan, created the background, the spinner and the base for all the mementos for our interpretation of 2003. My sister-in-law, Nancy, worked in my *tchotchke sweatshop* and made all the little details for the nichos. Flowers, skeletons, memorabilia, skulls, miniature replicas of food, a basket, etc. I even took a break from my part to make itty-bitty products that were on the original ofrenda - packages of sugar, salt and flour.
***
The 2004 Ofrenda honored two people.
Some years, the museum built two smaller ofrendas to honor two people
Our nicho was inspired by the woman who was honored in 2004
Susan made the border and Janet made the portrait.
***
The 2005 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
The 2005 ofrenda honored a priest. For the nicho, I switched the scale of the various elements.
Nancy made all those little strings of
papel picados (the rectangular doilies) as well as the skeleton and all the other small items. Google added that link. I'll leave it in because it might be interesting - but I have not gone to it.
***
The 2006 Ofrenda
We never found any photos from the 2006 event
so our nicho below featured the art that was used on the 2006 poster.
The artwork was done by a young person in a DMAC art class. I assigned the task of making an appropriate border for a nicho to Peggy L. It was nice visual relief to have the simpler nicho next to the busy 2005 church.
***
The 2007 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
2007 was a very elaborate year. I spent way too much time figuring out how to build a boxcar. Many people came to Iowa in boxcars. Nancy and Peggy L made everything else on the nicho.
***
2008 ofrenda
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and our nicho below
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The 2008 ofrenda was a big year for me. I cut all the feathers for the four huge columns which represented Quetzalcoatl.
LINK to info about Quetzalcoatl I enlisted helpers in 2008 for the discs on the back of the heads as well as the temple structure in the middle of the ofrenda. For the nicho, I scaled back to two columns and a temple. Nancy provided skeletons and and flower arrangements.
***
The 2009 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
2009 honored two people who were not related. The photo shows just one of two very similar ofrendas and they did not offer a strong design for the nicho. Peggy J's interpretation was joyful with all the colors and the two dancing skeletons.
The 2010 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
In 2010, the ofrenda represented 4 tombs which were built out of cardboard.
The 2025 nicho was a more abstract interpretation of the original ofrenda. It was kept a little
more minimal with just orange flowers and one skeleton done by Nancy.
This was the more subdued nicho on the second side of the ofrenda.
***
The 2011 Ofrenda
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and our nicho below |
The 2011 and 2012 ofrendas were a bit of a departure, design-wise. Gary utilized large graphic panels and smaller displays of memorabilia for the original ofrendas. For our nicho, Janet did the design for the frame of the 2021 nicho and I filled it with photo copies from the 2011 ofrenda photo. Of all the nichos - this one probably came together the fastest. Nancy made the flowers.
***
The 2012 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
The 2012 ofrenda honored veterans. As a design element, the giant eagle did not inspire any of my helpers. One person thought she had an idea - but after a couple days she said, "The bird is not speaking to me." I fussed and fretted over several ideas but the bird did not speak to me either. While I love a good design challenge, eventually I was down to the wire and told Keith, the lead designer, that I was burned out and did not have any ideas. I suggested that we go back to the original idea and just put a photo of the 2012 ofrenda on our 2025 ofrenda. He said, "What if you make the bird really small?" Leave it to an interior designer to come up with a solution to a design problem.
I ended up liking this one for a couple reasons. I was forced to pull out paint to get a red, white and blue pallet going. I had hoped that each of the 24 nichos would look like they were made by a different person, but our modest budget forced us to use a lot of repeat materials. Paint made the ever present railroad board look like something else.
Those flowers make me very happy. My dear sister-in-law Nancy was perfectly happy to fill the order for paper punched flowers with hole-punched centers. Although she agreed that the centers really needed that little extra border of red paper and was willing to put in some time on very fussy punching and gluing. That detail nudged the most dreaded nicho out of its position in the bottom three as we ranked our favorite-to-least favorite.
Now you want to know which ones are the bottom three.
2001 because I should have started over after I had honed some skills.
2014, which is coming up, because my lack of skills is showing.
There is a five-way tie for the third spot because five of them are just a rough draft
and they would be so much better if I could start over.
***
The 2013 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
2013 was a little tricky to work with. The only design element that jumped out were the rectangles/ovals/colors. My friend Tom made the border. Another friend, Josh, works in a frame shop and cut some little frames out of scrap mat board. I had some leftover skulls that Peggy J offered when I picked up her finished 2009 nicho. Janet was dropping off something and I asked her if she could take the leftover skulls and put faces on them. I was thinking she'd just do them in black - but no --- Janet went above and beyond with flowers and jewels and sequins and colors. It was a tour de force in itty bitty skulls. So there were four people involved in this one. Janet also provided that big skeleton which is a premade holiday decor item that she found in her stash of holiday decor. We all did a good job of scrounging up things rather than buying new materials for the nichos.
***
The 2014 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
I get a little PTSD looking at this one. The 2014 photo we had to work from was not an actual ofrenda, it was a band. Our nicho was going to need a band. Nancy was a real trooper in churning out skeletons. We figured out some instruments. Lots of cutting and layering for Nancy. Then we had to build the risers. Note to everyone - if you are ever building risers or stairs....start with the bottom one. Do not start with the top one. That should have been obvious -- but - for us it was a monumental learning experience.
***
The 2015 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
2015 was another one that had us stumped for a while. The ofrenda is fine - but the design was based on cubes and unusual colors neither of which inspired a nicho.
I found inspiration on Pinterest and while this one is way out of my comfort zone maybe it provided inspiration to some little girl who saw it at the event and has made her own nicho with a Barbie doll.
***
The 2016 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
The 2016 ofrenda included displays of memorabilia on either side of the canopy with the couple shown in the photo. Peggy L had loaned me an actual antique nicho with a nativity scene. I covered up the nativity scene and put a pair of Nancy's skeletons in front of the drapes.
I worked on this nicho in June or July - when I was trying to figure out how to make little floral arrangements. I was having a heck of a time - and finally just crumpled up some mulberry paper and hacked at some paper to make odd little vases.
Weirdly - I had several people comment on how cute the flowers were which was strange. I had simply crumpled up paper out of frustration. Maybe I was flashing myself back to my childhood and making something so naive that it had the charm of naive work that can be hard to mimic if you've had a lot of formal training.
It inspired me to show Nancy how to just crumple up pictures of flowers and make weird little vases. She cranked out a ton of them - and while they are a little weird if you look closely - they seem to work with the whole aesthetic.
The point of mentioning the details on this nicho is to inspire non-artists to dive into nicho making.
***
The 2017 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
In 2017, 2018 and 2019 the ofrendas were stacks of banquet tables - draped with fabric. In 2017 there was an elaborate design on the floor that inspired Peggy L. That year they honored musicians - so we found some musician skeletons to put in the nicho and reproduced a sign that had been on the original ofrenda.
***
The 2018 Ofrenda
and our not-a-nicho below
The 2018 theme welcomed everyone in the community to honor any departed loved one.
That concept inspired a Tree of Life.
All of the people who participated in the building of the ofrenda were invited to add a photo of a departed loved one to the Tree of Life.
***
The 2019 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
The sunflowers on the 2019 ofrenda jumped out at me. Keith wanted me to use the three colors of the draping and we went back and forth on that idea because I just couldn't picture it. I had been vigilant at using only recycled materials and hadn't found a good idea for sunflowers. I splurged at the Dollar Store and bought a sprig of 3 sunflowers for a dollar. The two people who were honored were not a couple - and I wasn't sure how to represent them - so I had people on the committee come up with words for them. This is not a favorite - but it's fine.
***
2020 - No DOD event due to covid
The cancellation of the event gave us the opportunity to use the small test skull that I made to represent the year of the pandemic by adding a mask.
***
The 2021 Ofrenda
The 2021 ofrenda was covered with butterflies to represent all the people who had lost their lives in the pandemic. To many people butterflies carry the spirits of their ancestors. This is the only photo I had to work off of - so I tasked Patty with making a butterfly nicho - we weren't sure what to put in the middle - and she was headed out of town - so I pondered - and filled it in with a skeleton butterfly using one of Patty's drawn skulls.
***
The 2022 Ofrenda
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and our nicho below |
The 2022 ofrenda honored people who had been active in the Mexican wrestling league. Many ofrendas are maximalist like this one - lots and lots and lots of stuff. I wasn't sure which design element to pull out. I had Janet interpret the mask that was on the poster for that year. Then I saw those skeletons at the dollar store - and figured a wrestling ring would be fun - something to catch the eye of little boys at the event.
***
The 2023 Ofrenda
and our nicho below
The 2023 ofrenda included some large cutout photos that are not in the photo. The cutouts were photos of Latino athletes from Des Moines. I added skeleton faces to the photos of the athletes. This one came together quickly on my end - although Nancy spent a lot of time cutting out skulls and those little green doodads because I didn't have time to find paint to match the green railroad board. I hope the skulls look like all the fans watching the sporting events. The coffin shape is a popular shape for nichos.
***
The 2024 Ofrenda
2024 honored several children who had passed away. It was a tunnel that people could walk through. I struggled with how to make that into a nicho. Josh, my framer friend, spotted the dove shape in his computer program and made a sample for me. It was a welcome suggestion that inspired the nicho with doors. I made a little replica of the tunnel for the inside. Nancy made all the miniature memorabilia.
***
The Big Scary Skull
At the very beginning I told Keith that he would have to find someone else to make a 2-foot skull because we assumed it would have to be paper mache and I have no interest in that medium. He agreed to find someone to make the skull but it only took me one day to find a pattern for a skull made out of paper and the pattern was $4 on Etsy.
The pattern prints out on regular printer paper. I enlarged it enough to fit on 11x17 and put the first one together in about 6 hours. It was fun and easy. I figured a giant one would be fun and easy. I had the foresight to laminate two layers of the large 24x36 pages to give it some heft. Janet and Patty did almost all the cutting on the 40 pieces it took to build a skull. I enjoyed building the large one and it was done in early June - but then it languished all summer because I couldn't figure out how to paint it. Paint is wet and that made the paper cockle, wrinkle and bubble which made the back and top of the skull cave in. I'll refrain from listing the details of what I went through during September and October. We were a week out from the installation and I had not solved the problem.
My last ditch effort was to spend 4 hours covering the whole thing with bits of masking tape. That worked. Whew.
Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I had to paint the designs on really fast. That probably gave it a much better folk art look.
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| one of the 24x36 sheets with pieces |
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| covered with masking tape and "in traction" to hold the shape |
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