Media Contact: Alondra Ponce, alondra.ponce.432@my.csun.edu, or Carmen Ramos Chandler, carmen.chandler@csun.edu, (818) 677-2130
California State University Northridge’s Department of Chicana/o Studies and its Chicano House are collaborating with the Department of Art and Design to create a Dia de los Muertos celebration that honors the memories of loved ones lost over the years.
The celebration, which takes place on Friday, Nov. 1, from 3 to 10 p.m., includes an opportunity for those in attendance to create images to honor those no longer with us. The event will take place on the lawn in front of the Chicano House, located on the west side of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge.
“I hope that students and staff experience a sense of connectedness and community during the events, and I hope that our communities of students expand outward to the larger community of Los Angeles, particularly the San Fernando Valley,” said Chicano studies professor Sandra De La Loza, who teaches in the College of Humanities. “I want people to be moved through spirit, memory and relationality. We are enlightened in celebrating our ancestors.”
The day will feature various art workshops between 4 to 6 p.m. led by CSUN faculty and students.
Michelle Rozic, a printmaking instructor, will do an installation that includes prints of spirit animals that will be placed on a tree near the Chicano House. Art education professor Cristin Taylor will lead a workshop on the making of paper skulls, marigold headbands, mini piñatas, alebrijes, picture and frames. The CSUN Art Galleries will feature a community ancestor altar and the acclaimed Boyle Heights-based Kalli Arte Collective will host a glow-in-the-dark mask workshop. All workshops are offered for free.
The celebration will include two overlapping events. A procession will be led by Calpuli Tlahuikole, who are danzantes , Aztec dancers, at 5:30 p.m. The procession will move across campus and bless the altar at the Art Galleries and end at the community alter at the Chicano House. The procession is scheduled to begin at Jerome Richfield Hall. The “Call Up to the Ancestors Cultural Program” will take place from 6:30 to 10 p.m., which includes Ballet Folklorico de Aztlan, Kalpulli Tlahuicole, DJ Mestizo, and Crew Conjunto Hueyapan.
The events are coordinated by De La Loza and MEChA de CSUN (El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán), Colita De Rana, a student club that focuses on healing practices and the Department of Chicana/o Studies.
In addition to the Chicano House and art department ancestor altars, there will be multiple ancestor altars created in classes led by different professors within the Department of Chicana/o Studies. De La Loza said that an ancestor altar is a space that is created to honor ancestors.
“At CSUN, we define ancestors as our blood relatives, but also our activists who have paved the way for us, as well as actors of change who have impacted our lives,” De La Loza said. “We are guided by some indigenous principles that you see present in all ancestor altars around the world, that also, in different ways, bring in elements that remind us we are interconnected to lifecycles and life systems. Those elements will be presented.”
She invited people to bring offerings for their ancestors, which can include food and candles to invite the ancestors, as well as personal photos and flowers.
“It is a space and moment in time to remember our connection to the past and to people, but also cycles and systems of life that we are connected to,” De La Loza said.
The celebration will include food, live music, vendors, and more.
“A core principle of Chicano studies is to provide educational opportunities to help us remember, but also learn about and reconnect with cultural and ancestral history and traditions that we may have been disconnected from,” said De La Loza. “We want to also draw from the rich knowledge that we hold and create spaces in which that knowledge can be collectively shared with each other.”
