October 23, 2021
7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.
Location: Gloria Molina Grand Park Performance Lawn (Near Hill Street)
Suspended last year due to the pandemic, the traditional Noche de Ofrenda ceremony honoring the dead returns to Gloria Molina Grand Park as a live event and performance. A co-presentation by Gloria Molina Grand Park and Self Help Graphics, the joint event of reflection and remembrance will feature a communal circle and blessing led by the indigenous community and also include poetry and dance. In a continued partnership with Gloria Molina Grand Park, LACMA will host two family-friendly arts-based workshops dedicated to making personalized calavera—one of the most recognizable cultural and artistic elements of the Day of the Dead festivities. Each 20-minute workshop held throughout Noche de Ofrenda will engage kids to create their own calavera using air dry clay, paper plates and other craft items as LACMA teaching artists show park-goers how to sculpt, shape and transform ordinary materials into colorful Día de Los Muertos artworks. LACMA will also host a “Tree of Life” in Gloria Molina Grand Park encouraging park-goers to write the name of a passed loved one on a colorful ribbon; the name and ribbon will remain placed on the tree in remembrance for the duration of Gloria Molina Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos.
