The Maude Kerns Art Center is hosting a living Day of the Dead exhibit in Eugene

EUGENE, Ore. – The Maude Kerns Art Center in Eugene is celebrating Day of the Dead with a special art exhibit.

Día De Los Meurtos, or the Day of the Dead, is a holiday in Latin America, particularly Mexico, in which people celebrate and remember those who have died.

Family and friends will set up floor altars called “ofrendas” decorated with pictures, sentimental items, food and flowers to welcome the dead into the world of the living for a few nights.

“The Día De Los Meurtos holiday is the Aztec harvest ritual that was adopted by the Catholic Church at the time,” explains Maude Kerns exhibition coordinator Liberty Rossel, “and then we linked our associations with Catholicism and the holiday All Saints Day of Souls – therefore celebrate We celebrate Día De Los Meurtos on November 1st and 2nd.”

To celebrate and spotlight the holiday and the communities and culture from which it originates, the Maude Kerns Art Center is hosting a Day of the Dead exhibition.

The exhibition features art by Mexican and Latin American artists from Oregon, Washington and even Mexico.

Paintings, sculptures and more are displayed alongside ofrendas, honoring the loved ones of various community members.

“We are featuring 23 juried artists and 10 Mexican graphic artists primarily from the state of Oregon,” says Rossel. “Then the Mexican graphic artists come mainly from Mexico City in Oaxaca and the surrounding states. So we are very fortunate to represent a wide range of artists, and the Mexican graphic artists are a very special edition that we did in collaboration with Alejandro Varagan from the Propulsion Network in De Ildeles Muertes, Oregon.”

The exhibition will be on view until November 2nd. On Friday, October 11, the center hosted a reception with a performance by a mariachi band and folk dancers.