photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

Juan Hernández Rodríguez, a third-generation master cartonero from Guanajuato, Mexico, works on a catrina, a papier-mâché sculpture, on Oct. 31, 2023.

White primer is being painted on an approximately 4-foot-tall papier-mâché skeleton, the second to last step in a process that has already taken dozens of hours. The colorful paint comes next, and soon the completed catrina will become part of the vibrant altars made for Día de los Muertos.

Juan Hernández Rodríguez, a third-generation master cartonero from Guanajuato, Mexico, led three workshops in Lawrence last week to create the papier-mâché sculptures of skeletons used in Día de los Muertos altars and celebrations. On Tuesday, he and several of the participants from the workshops were gathered for a final workday on the catrinas before they join the ofrendas, or altars, made to honor deceased loved ones for the Day of the Dead. Hernández said the catrinas don’t represent a specific person, but instead the idea that death is part of life and unites us all.

“They represent that all people are equal,” he said as he added primer to the skirt of a catrina with long braids and an outstretched hand. “That it doesn’t matter the color of someone’s skin, their socioeconomic status. When we die, we are all the same.”

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

A primed catrina is pictured on Oct. 31, 2023.

A community Día de los Muertos event organized by the community group Somos Lawrence on Thursday will pay tribute to deceased loved ones and include the pieces Hernández and others made during the recent workshops. He said 19 people participated in the workshops, which were also organized by Somos Lawrence. He said workshop participants had roots in various Latin American countries, including Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela and Chile and included both adults and children.

“The idea is to keep their roots and traditions alive,” he said. “It’s very important that we do this with unity, and have a network of support in place among the families.”

The artform dates back to pre-Hispanic traditions, and Hernández learned the skills of cartonería from his grandfather and has taught them to his own children. He said the process begins with making wireframing for the skeleton figure, then creating the body and features using craft paper, newspaper and a paste made of flour and water. The white primer then goes on top of the figure, followed by the bright pigments that make the expressive catrinas so distinctive. Hernández estimated that the approximately 4-foot catrina he was working on — they can be made much smaller or much bigger — would take about 30 to 40 hours total to complete.

On Tuesday, a handful of people were putting primer and paint on their catrinas while getting instructions and tips from Hernández. Additional crafts, such as skulls, a miniature ofrenda complete with tiny food offerings and other decorations made in last week’s workshops were gathered on tables, waiting for the final day. The rituals honoring the dead, which are simultaneously happy and sad celebrations, begin Oct. 26 and end on All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

Workshop participants Rosina Aguirre and Milagro Martínez work on their catrinas on Oct. 31, 2023.

Somos Lawrence families are organizing Thursday’s Día de los Muertos event in collaboration with Moms Demand Action and the Lawrence Percolator. Araceli Masterson-Algar, an organizer with Somos Lawrence, said that in addition to the catrinas, the event will include additional artwork as well as multiple altars. She said nine ofrendas will be set up, including a community ofrenda; an ofrenda for the victims of gun violence created by Moms Demand Action; an ofrenda created by the DARE Center for those who have died while homeless; an ofrenda created by the Lawrence Humane Society for loved pets; and five ofrendas created by Lawrence families.

Masterson-Algar said the many hours of workshops to craft the catrinas and other artwork for the event continue to strengthen the growing Lawrence event and connections among the Spanish-speaking community.

“People underestimate the spaces of cultural production and art,” Masterson-Algar said. “… It has allowed for a lot of community bonding.”

This is the third year Somos Lawrence has organized the event and the second year it has received a grant from the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council to help support it. As the Journal-World has previously reported, last year the main ofrenda honored the victims of COVID-19 and the year before that people who died while experiencing homelessness in Lawrence.

Masterson-Algar said the group decides on those ofrendas together, and that gun violence is an issue that affects many people, not only in this country, but in the countries Somos Lawrence families come from.

“Each year Somos Lawrence and the Percolator Arts Collective have been trying to think of what are the experiences of collectivity that unite us all,” she said.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

Juan Hernández Rodríguez, right, gives guidance to workshop participants finishing up their catrinas on Oct. 31, 2023.

Somos Lawrence noted in a press release about the event that of the approximately 250,000 gun-related deaths worldwide in 2019, about 66% occurred in just six countries: the U.S., Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, India and Colombia. In Kansas, gun deaths increased by 32% from 2012 to 2021, and are the leading cause of death for children and teens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other data compiled by Everytown for Gun Safety. Claudia Olea, a leader of the Douglas County Moms Demand Action group, has been in contact with people in Uvalde, Texas, the majority Latino community where 21 people were killed in a mass shooting last year. Olea said the group has been collaborating with Angie Villescaz from a group called Fierce Madres in Uvalde.

“They sent photos of students and teachers killed at Robb Elementary school that will be part of the community ofrenda which this year honors people who have died due to gun violence,” Olea said via email. “The public is also invited to bring photos of their loved ones to add to the ofrenda.”

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Special to the Journal-World

Two smaller, completed catrinas are pictured on Oct. 31, 2023.

Thursday’s Día de los Muertos event is free and open to the public and will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Common Ground Community Garden at John Taylor Park, 200 N. Seventh St. The public is welcome to walk among the ofrendas, which will be displayed throughout the garden. Hot chocolate and Mexican sweet bread will be served. Set-up for the community altars will begin at 8:30 a.m., and everyone is welcome to drop by throughout the day to contribute flowers, notes, artwork, pictures of loved ones and other meaningful offerings.

Somos Lawrence, which is housed in the Ballard Center adjacent to John Taylor Park, is a community organization that seeks to advocate for effective and culturally informed grassroots outreach to under-represented, Spanish-speaking residents of Douglas County. Other collaborative partners in the event include the Ballard Center, Common Ground and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Lawrence artist Dave Loewenstein provided the space for the workshops.

Editor’s note: The interview with Hernández was translated from Spanish.