DAY OF THE DEAD 2011 in Boyle Heights

38th Annual Día de Los Muertos Celebration: Revival 2011

Self Help Graphics & Art was the first organization in the country to create a free public celebration of Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead through the leadership and initiation of local artists in 1973. As in the different Mexican regions, Self Help Graphics’ celebration is distinct to the East Side artistic community it represents. Every year, on November 2nd, Self Help Graphics’ yearly day of remembering that life is a dream from which, one day we will awaken, celebrates our beloved who are no longer with us. Every year we paint our faces in duality -- half calaca and half ourselves, revealing the ancient comedy of life as our ancestors have taught us.


DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATION, REVIVAL 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 
5 PM - 11 PM
Self Help Graphics & Art’s New Location at
1300 East 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033



REVIVAL PRINT & EXHIBITION CURATED BY PATSSI VALDEZ
Special Exhibition Opening Friday, October 28, 2011 
7 PM - 9 PM
Patssi Valdez is a Los Angeles based artist who grew up in East Los Angeles. She received her BFA from Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. Valdez's art has been featured at the Alma Awards and the Latin Grammies. She is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including from the J. Paul Getty Trust Fund for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Brody Arts Fellowship in Visual Arts. Her art work is in several major collections, including the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.; The Tucson Museum of Art, Arizona; The San Jose Museum of Art, California; and the El Paso Museum of Art, Texas. Valdez is best known for her colorful paintings and early performance work with the avant-garde art group ASCO (Spanish for nausea), which will be featured in a major retrospective this year at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She states “My paintings portray an actual and or imagined place that depict an inspirational or emotionally charged feeling or experience. They are snippets of environments that I consider meaningful and symbolic of my individual as well as collective Chicano experience.” Patssi presently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.


NOCHE DE OFRENDA
Saturday, October 29, 2010 
6 PM - 9 PM
A day of art workshops concludes with the construction of a large community altar in Self Help Graphics & Art’s ballroom. Lead by premier altar-maker and community resident, Ofelia Esparza, participants are invited to place their newly created offerings or those brought from home together in creating a community altar for display throughout our Dia de los Muertos festivities. This inspirational and important art of traditional altar making serves as a way for the community to contribute their memories with special tokens of remembrance. Poetry readings, Pan de Muerto and Xocolatl will also be a part of this special evening.


FREE COMMUNITY ART WORKSHOPS
Every Saturday in the month of October: 10/8; 10/15; 10/22; 10/29 
12 PM - 3 PM
SHG is pleased to offer the following Dia de los Muertos Community Art Workshops. All materials and teachers are provided by Self Help Graphics & Art! Please be on time, wear clothes that are not too precious, enjoy a Saturday afternoon of fun & tradición with new friends and old ones too. Free for the entire familia! Information on specific workshops is forthcoming.


VENDOR INFO (2011 DAY OF THE DEAD) Self Help Graphics invites local artisans and vendors to become a part of our first-ever Dia de los Muertos in our new location! Download the application and get your spot for this year's celebration! SPACE IS LIMITED this year so please make note of the deadline for submission. Items must be Dia de los Muertos related.