‘Bouquets to the Dead,’ a living memorial

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Days of the Dead Sonoma prepares to celebrate Dia de los Muertos

Open house at La Luz – With visitors dressed in bright colors, and the vibrant sounds of mariachi music, La Luz once again celebrates Dia de la Muertos with all of its neighbors in the Springs area. The center’s annual evening open house on Tuesday, Nov. 1, will feature several family altars, along with a larger community altar, where visitors are invited to leave photos, poems or favorite mementos of loved ones who’ve passed away. Tuesday, Nov. 1, La Luz Center, 17560 Greger St., 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Free.

Community Center Altar and Celebration – Anchored by a gorgeous 15-foot altar, topped with artful flames - created by sculptor Jim Callahan - the Community Center’s annual observance of Dia de los Muertos includes an open invitation to locals to add photos of departed loved ones to the structure. Lights and paper butterflies adorn the altar as well, and butterfly masks will be distributed to kids during the free public reception on Nov. 1, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Traditional Dia de los Muertos costumes encouraged. Oct. 28 - Nov. 3, Sonoma Community Center, 276 Napa St. E., in the exterior Maloney Family Memorial Garden. Free.

Art Escape Workshop and Celebration – For a bit of a hands-on Dia de los Muertos experience, instructor-artist Zoe Harris will lead a family-friendly workshop at Art Escape Sonoma on Monday, Oct. 31. Participants of all ages will learn to make metal skeletons, listen to Mexican folktales, and play Day of the Dead Bingo. The next day, on Nov. 1, the center will be hosting a free music-filled community celebration. Guests will decorate sugar skulls, enjoy tamales and other dishes, and help construct an altar. If you made a skeleton at the workshop the day before, you are invited to bring it along. Workshop takes place Monday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Cost is $10 for individuals, $20 for a family. The free Dia del Los Muertos celebration is Tuesday, Nov. 1, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Both events are at Art Escape Sonoma, 17474 Sonoma Highway.

“When I first began learning and thinking about Dia de Los Muertos, it totally cracked my heart open,” says Sonoma artist Natasha Drengson, creator of the annual Bouquets to the Dead event at Sonoma Mountain Cemetery, Oct. 29 and 30.

“For so many, death is a fearful thing,” she says, “but Dia de Los Muertos reminds us it can be a beautiful and loving thing to join together in recognizing and celebrating our own mutual mortality.”

Drengson says Bouquets to the Dead is her way of “bringing love and awareness to (mortality), by encouraging artistic expressions of honor to those loved ones who’ve passed away - before it’s our turn to go, too.”

Dia de los Muertos, Nov. 1, is a significant holiday originally celebrated throughout Mexico. It’s a time of honoring ancestors and remembering loved ones who’ve passed away by leaving treats and flowers on altars or in cemeteries. Over the last several decades, the annual observance has become multicultural, and is widely embraced throughout Sonoma County, with numerous events marking the day.

Drengson’s sweetly eccentric event is exactly what she describes – an artistic “honoring of our ancestors,” featuring a number of fanciful, inventive, often deeply moving altars, erected throughout the cemetery. The sometimes elaborate art pieces are built from flowers, and a variety of found objects - wood, feathers, skulls, paper lanterns, etc., and often employ highly imaginative themes. Past installations have included walkable labyrinths, prayer flag fences, paintings, sculptures and towers of toys, to honor the lives of children who’ve passed away.

Visitors can feel free to park and walk among the tombstones to observe the art pieces, but should know they can also drive through and get a very good look at the installations. Per tradition, the sculptures will be up for two days only.

“It’s very temporary, like life,” laughs Drengson.

She estimates that 20 artists will be creating original sculptures. “I have the most artists ever, this year,” she says, adding that some of the artists will be introducing influences that extend beyond Mexican culture and embrace other worldviews of death and dying as well. “In America, we tend to fear death, but by looking at the traditions of other cultures, from Asian cultures to African cultures, we can benefit from how they embrace the inevitability of death. Though the bridge to this work, for me, was through Latin culture, I can see that in the future we will expand this in all kinds of beautiful ways.”

The event begins with a gong ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29, and ends with a noon-to-2 p.m. potluck and closing circle at dusk, Sunday, Oct. 30. It takes place at Sonoma Mountain Cemetery, 90 First St. W., from dawn to dusk and is free.

Email David at david.templeton@sonomanews.com.

Days of the Dead Sonoma prepares to celebrate Dia de los Muertos

Open house at La Luz – With visitors dressed in bright colors, and the vibrant sounds of mariachi music, La Luz once again celebrates Dia de la Muertos with all of its neighbors in the Springs area. The center’s annual evening open house on Tuesday, Nov. 1, will feature several family altars, along with a larger community altar, where visitors are invited to leave photos, poems or favorite mementos of loved ones who’ve passed away. Tuesday, Nov. 1, La Luz Center, 17560 Greger St., 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Free.

Community Center Altar and Celebration – Anchored by a gorgeous 15-foot altar, topped with artful flames - created by sculptor Jim Callahan - the Community Center’s annual observance of Dia de los Muertos includes an open invitation to locals to add photos of departed loved ones to the structure. Lights and paper butterflies adorn the altar as well, and butterfly masks will be distributed to kids during the free public reception on Nov. 1, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Traditional Dia de los Muertos costumes encouraged. Oct. 28 - Nov. 3, Sonoma Community Center, 276 Napa St. E., in the exterior Maloney Family Memorial Garden. Free.

Art Escape Workshop and Celebration – For a bit of a hands-on Dia de los Muertos experience, instructor-artist Zoe Harris will lead a family-friendly workshop at Art Escape Sonoma on Monday, Oct. 31. Participants of all ages will learn to make metal skeletons, listen to Mexican folktales, and play Day of the Dead Bingo. The next day, on Nov. 1, the center will be hosting a free music-filled community celebration. Guests will decorate sugar skulls, enjoy tamales and other dishes, and help construct an altar. If you made a skeleton at the workshop the day before, you are invited to bring it along. Workshop takes place Monday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Cost is $10 for individuals, $20 for a family. The free Dia del Los Muertos celebration is Tuesday, Nov. 1, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Both events are at Art Escape Sonoma, 17474 Sonoma Highway.

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