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

Juan Hernández Rodríguez, a third-generation master cartonero from Guanajuato, Mexico, works on a catrina alongside Sylvia Trevino-Maack during a workshop on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.

Update: The Día de los Muertos celebration has been moved to the Sunrise Project building at 1501 Learnard Ave. because of inclement weather in the forecast.

Amid an election year where much is made of what divides us, an upcoming community Día de los Muertos event will pay tribute to deceased loved ones with a special focus on what connects us.

The community group Somos Lawrence, which is hosting the event in partnership with the Senior Resource Center for Douglas County and the Percolator Artist Collective, will dedicate this year’s main altar to the lives of departed grandparents and elders. Araceli Masterson-Algar, an organizer with Somos Lawrence, said that especially with the backdrop of a divisive election year, the group sought to honor a memory we all share.

“It is something that is common to all of us, to have grandparents or elders of some sort who influenced us, so we wanted to honor them,” Masterson-Algar said. “We wanted to dedicate it to a collective that we’re clearly all tied to.”

The rituals honoring the dead as part of Día de los Muertos, which are simultaneously happy and sad celebrations, begin Oct. 26 and end on All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2. As in past years, Somos Lawrence will hold a free community event on Nov. 2 featuring the community altar, individual family altars and a main interactive art piece. Ahead of the event, artisans from Mexico have been leading workshops to help participants make the colorful papier-mâché skeleton figurines, or catrinas, and other artwork featured in Día de los Muertos altars and celebrations.

Juan Hernández Rodríguez, a third-generation master cartonero from Guanajuato, Mexico, has returned to Lawrence for the second year to lead the workshops, and this year is joined by his son Tonatiuh Hernández Pacheco. As part of the workshops, which began Oct. 23, Juan Hernández has been helping Somos Lawrence participants to make figurines for the main art piece for the event, which this year will be a Mexican tree of life. Tonatiuh Hernández began a workshop with the Somos Lawrence youth group on Sunday, where participants are creating two approximately 6.5-foot tall catrinas that will also be part of the event.

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

A catrina, or skeleton figurine, extends an arm toward a butterfly.

Both groups will come together in a final workshop, which Masterson-Algar said speaks to the value of the collaborative spaces at the heart of the activities. She said especially for families where parents may spend many hours working, sometimes without a day off, the ability to come together can be limited, and opportunities that are available may be less accessible because of cost or language.

“It’s a way to open venues for more inclusive collaborations amongst people who perhaps participate a little less than others in many of the opportunities that are available in Lawrence,” Masterson-Algar said.

Like the altar dedicated to grandparents and elders, she said the tree of life sculpture underscores the idea of interconnectedness and intergenerational collaboration. The tree, made with help from the Percolator, will be made of papier-mâché and cardboard. Following the artistic traditions for the Mexican tree of life, the tree’s branches will be filled with many objects representing life — such as flowers, butterflies, birds and musical instruments — that Somos Lawrence participants are making during the workshop with Juan Hernández. Masterson-Algar said the tree of life speaks to the connections between us and past generations, and the continuity between them.

“We’re all part of that larger tree of life that is made of so many generations that we can trace, and also many that we cannot trace,” she said.

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

Leslie Perales, left, Elizabeth García and Austin Silva García work on papier-mâché figures while talking to Araceli Masterson-Algar, second from right, an organizer with Somos Lawrence.

The art piece also gives the general public a way to participate in Saturday’s Día de los Muertos event. Masterson-Algar said visitors will be able to add paper leaves to the tree that they can fill out with a word or phrase that reminds them of a person they want to remember. The event is free and open to the public and will take place from 5 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 altars, which will be displayed throughout the garden. Hot chocolate, tamales and Mexican sweet bread will be served.

Set-up for the community altar will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, and everyone is welcome to drop by throughout the day to contribute flowers, notes, artwork, pictures of loved ones and other offerings. There is also still space for families who want to create their own altars, but they should contact Somos Lawrence by 5 p.m. on Thursday at somoslawrence@gmail.com or via text at 785-813-1098.

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. The event is supported by a grant from the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council, and workshop space is being provided by the Sunrise Project and SeedCo Studios.

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

Leslie Perales and Elizabeth García work on papier-mâché figures that will be part of the Mexican tree of life art piece for Saturday’s community Día de los Muertos event.

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

Families work on papier-mâché figures for the Mexican tree of life during a Somos Lawrence workshop with master cartonero Juan Hernández Rodríguez on Oct. 28, 2024, at the Sunrise Project.

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

Ceneyda Sierra and Monserrat Lorenzo, foreground, work on papier-mâché figures that will be part of the Mexican tree of life art piece for Saturday’s community Día de los Muertos event.

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

A catrina, or skeleton figurine, is pictured on Oct. 28, 2024, at a Somos Lawrence workshop led by master cartonero Juan Hernández Rodríguez.

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

Maria Alfaro and José Flores work on papier-mâché figures that will be part of the Mexican tree of life art piece for Saturday’s community Día de los Muertos event.

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

Families work on papier-mâché figures for the Mexican tree of life during a Somos Lawrence workshop with master cartonero Juan Hernández Rodríguez on Oct. 28, 2024, at the Sunrise Project.