A giant hand-crafted altar will be a major new highlight at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) Arlington’s long-running Dia de los Muertos celebration. Happening Nov. 1 from 5-8 p.m., the event is free and open to the public. Visitors are invited to take part by adding their own photos or mementos of loved ones who have died. But the mood will be more festive than somber.
Dia de los Muertos—or Day of the Dead—is a Mexican holiday during which families and friends celebrate the lives of people who have died. Unlike Halloween, the idea is not to spook but rather embrace the spirits of the dead. It’s more a day of remembrance than macabre, explains Arlington visual artist David Amoroso, who is designing the altar.
The colorful altar will be about 10 feet tall by 18 feet wide, made of wood and lattice, and covered with hundreds of tissue-paper marigolds and calaveras, the decorative sugar skulls associated with the holiday. It will have three tiers, with the bottom representing the underworld, the middle being earth and then the upper level the heavens.
Amoroso became enamored with Latin culture during a trip to Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador in the 1990s, when he was a photographer. Deciding that photos didn’t go far enough in capturing the energy of the people and places he encountered, he began painting with vibrant hues in a in pop art-style. His portfolio now includes portraits of high-profile historical figures such as Frida Kahlo, along with luchadores (fighters) and other emblems of Mexican culture.
“As a kid, I would have weird dreams about [the] afterworld and skeletons, and I was really scared and curious at the same time,” he says. “So, some elements of Dia de los Muertos actually aligned with the thoughts I was having as a kid.”
Amoroso was adopted as a child and knew nothing about his biological family, but felt an instant connection to the Mexican landscape and its people. “Honestly, the first time I was in Mexico, I just felt like, ‘Gosh, this feels like home,'” he says.
A typical Dia de los Muertos altar will include representations of four elements: earth, fire, water and wind. Candles are often used for fire, and cups or glasses of water are placed at the altar to quench the thirst of deceased souls who are coming back to visit. Papel picado—intricately cut tissue paper—blows in the wind. Earth symbols can take many forms, but are most often represented in a sweet bread called pan de muerto (bread of the dead). Salt can also represent the earth. Amoroso says his design will include a container of salt.
“I’ve done altars for over 20 years, but never on this scale,” he says. “We’re going to take full advantage of the ample space [in front of MoCA Arlington] and the steps on the front leading up to [the building]. We’ll have a little scene within the arch, featuring two large calaveras, most likely sitting at a table enjoying a meal. In front of it, on the steps, we’ll have more of the flowers, candles, pictures and different items like that.”
Craft tables at the event will invite visitors to make paper flowers and sugar skulls, iconic symbols of the holiday.
MoCA Arlington has already invited local students and the public to help with decorations during a resource fair at Apex Apartments and at a MoCA on the Move at Met Park event. (The next one is Oct. 29, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. at 1400 S. Eads St., Arlington.)
“We are hoping students at the high schools we’ve reached out [to]—Wakefield and Arlington Tech—help with the installation of the altar,” says Sarah Loden, MoCA Arlington’s public programs manager.
The museum and gallery space, founded as the Arlington Arts Center and renamed MoCA Arlington last October, has hosted Dia de los Muertos events for about 20 years. The festivities moved outdoors during the pandemic, and that has become a new tradition. The celebration typically draws about 300 guests.
Visitors are welcome to bring picnic blankets or lawn chairs and enjoy music from Grupo Fénix, dance performances from Los Quetzales and a poetry reading from Cristi Donoso. Raices Culturales will present artisan mask maker Rafael Jiménez López’s work for view and purchase. Food and drink will be available from pop-up cafe Rossana and La Tingeria, a beloved local taco truck that now has a storefront in Falls Church.
This free, family-friendly event will run from 5-8 p.m. Nov. 1.