Oct. 21, 2024 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Angelica Nuñez, Director
Somos Windsor
707-239-0144
Dia de Muertos Art Display Now On View in Windsor Town Green
A new Dia de Muertos art Exhibit is now on display at the Windsor Town Green, in the grove at the corner of Market and McClelland streets. The free “Ofrendas on the Green” display features tall pre-cut wooden calaveras (sugar skulls) designed and painted by local artists and families. The sugar skulls will be on display through the Windsor Dia de Muertos celebration on Saturday, Nov. 2.
Artist of all ages painted the skulls Oct. 19 and 20 on the Town Green, while event volunteers hung colorful “Papel Picado” colored paper decorations overhead. Families painted the sugar skulls in memory of family and friends now among “Los Muertos” – the dead.
The grove of brightly painted skulls is a new interpretation of the traditional “Ofrendas,” (altars) displayed on the Town Green in past years. The Ofrendas are festive displays set up to honor loved ones among the dead as part of the holiday. The Ofrendas are usually found in homes, on tables, and include several shelves full of photos, flowers, candles, and foods that were favorites of the friend or relative being remembered and honored.
Windsor’s Dia de Muertos organizing committee has sought to incorporate a public display of ofrendas on the Town Green as a community art show since 2019. Residents and visitors love the display, but the October weather does not.
“Every year, we’ve struggled with red-flag warnings, wind storms and rain storms,” said Angelica Nuñez, one of the event organizers and director of Somos Windsor, the nonprofit behind Dia de Muertos and other popular Latino arts and culture festivals on the Town Green.
October winds and rains have been the main culprits in wrecking display altars in previous years. “Every year the organizing committee spends a lot of time collecting items from the grass and the fountains, almost daily.”
Due to the weather challenges, festival organizers planned to discontinue the ofrendas display this year. But Windsor residents and families still wanted to create them. “Community members reached out asking when they could decorate their ofrendas,” Nuñez said. “They made it quite clear to us that this is a beloved tradition in Windsor. So our organizing committee down as a collective and brainstormed on ideas. This is a concept that we came up with as a pivot.”
Painting the pre-cut wooden skulls with their own designs and colors allows the community to participate and create displays using the artistic tradition of the calaveras. This new version of sugar skull artwork on the Green should stand up to high winds and rain if either come to Windsor this year.
So far, the Sugar Skull Grove on the Green is a hit.
“The community response has been amazing,” said Nuñez. “The families and groups that participated were happy to decorate their sugar skull. We did have quite a response from community members who would like to participate. We’re hoping to grow the exhibit next year.”
The Ofrendas on the Green display will be up through the evening of Saturday, Nov. 2 – the date for this year’s Windsor Dia de los Muertos festival on the Town Green. The free event runs from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the green.
This is the 13th Annual Dia de los Muertos festival in Windsor. The family-centered afternoon and evening includes a free sugar skull making workshop for children, a Memory Portrait art project, performances by the Ballet Folclórico de Cali Calmecac and Ballet Folclórico Sarita, an arts and crafts market featuring local Latino artisans, food and beverage vendors, and the popular Dia de Muertos Lowrider car show.
For more details on the Nov. 2 Windsor Dia de Muertos event on the Town Green, visit:
The Mateos Rosas family with the calavera (sugar skull) they created together Oct. 19. They are (l-r) Miguel, Lukas, Santiago, Nicole and Jorge. It will be on display in the Bosque (grove) at the Windsor Town Green, corner of Market and McClelland streets, through the end of the town's Dia de Muertos celebation Nov. 2.
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