Día de los Muertos IN LOS ANGELES
Self Help Graphics & Art (SHG) has developed one of the most popular Día de los Muertos events in Los Angeles, and the longest running public commemoration of its kind in the country for 50+ years. SHG provides the community with a season of fall activities, typically from October-November, to celebrate and prepare for the Celebration held on or near November 2. In 2022, SHG will celebrate its 50th Annual Día de los Muertos Celebration on Saturday, November 4. The two-month season of programs and workshops draws more than 50 community organizations, 100+ volunteers and thousands of attendees across the County of Los Angeles annually.
The season begins with Community Arts Workshops beginning Saturday, October 1 and every Saturday, inviting the public to learn about and create traditional crafts to honor the dead. A commemorative limited edition fine art serigraph is also produced by an invited artist during this period and premiered at the annual Día de los Muertos exhibition opening on Saturday, October 8 and on view through November.
Part of the season also includes our Noche de Ofrenda (Night of Altars/Offerings), an evening of reflection and remembrance. The night includes artists, community based organizations, and coalition partners installing one-of-a-kind altars that speak to issues and topics of our day. Led by Master Altar-maker and community resident, Ofelia Esparza and Rosanna Esparza-Ahrens, participants are invited to place their newly created offerings or objects brought from home on the community altar for display throughout its Dia de los Muertos festivities.
The season culminates with the Annual Día de los Muertos Celebration on or near November 2. This year’s celebration includes a procession, and danza blessing along with art, cultural craft vendors, music, food and workshops for the community.
Become a part of our history. Sponsor our upcoming Día de los Muertos celebration. Email our team at info@selfhelpgraphics.com to learn more and request a sponsorship deck.
History
The revival of the indigenous holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) was part of the Mexican-American reclamation of indigenous identity, an important social aspect of the Chicano Movement, and SHG played an integral role in the holiday’s revival in California. The first celebration was in 1972, and today, Day of the Dead is one of Los Angeles’s major celebrations celebrated by diverse audiences. The event has not only been the occasion to learn about the important role that heritage and tradition play in defining who we are, but has also been used to make artistic and political statements.
In 1974, the Chicano conceptual and performance group ASCO used the ceremony as a tool to confront a by-then entrenched social and political culture with an irreverent “invasion”. In the midst of ceremonies attended by Los Angeles’s political elite, ASCO members, Harry Gamboa, Jr., Patssi Valdez, Gronk, and Willie Herrón were “delivered” in a giant envelope marked postage due. ASCO redefined this event in their statement “Day of the Dead can mean a lot of different of things, and it doesn’t necessarily mean paper cutouts, skull heads. We can invent it, what it means to us.”
Throughout its history, well-known artists, including but not limited to Yolanda Gonzalez; Wayne Healy; Miguel Angel Reyes; Ester Hernandez; Carlos Almaraz; Eduardo Oropeza; ASCO members- -Harry Gamboa, Gronk, Willie Herron and Patssi Valdez; Judy Baca; Chaz Bojorquez; Los Four; and the East Los Streetscapers have participated and contributed to the program’s tradition and success.