From Oct. 25 to Nov. 3 a beautiful altar was set up in the Robertas Art galley with two purposes, to remember the deceased loved ones of students here at Whitewater, and to raise awareness of Hispanic and Latino culture. 

The Day of the Dead is an ancient celebration meant to serve as an opportunity for the living to both remember and pay their respects to their departed loved ones. Every year to celebrate this holiday as a community the Spanish club works with the Latinos Unidos to put up a traditional Dead of the Dead altar. The altar consists of multiple levels, with the top level, which holds a portrait of the Virgin Mary, representing heaven, and the lowest level, where the food sits, representing earth. Photos and the names of the departed rest on the upper levels just below the image of Mary. The display is quite important for both Latinos Unidos and the Spanish club. 

“It’s definitely the event which requires the most preparation and our best-attended event,” said Spanish club president Nayeli Gonzalez.

The event did require quite a bit of time to set up, the preparation for the event took around two weeks and the actual set up of the altar took four to five hours according to Gonzalez. Montana Petersen, the president of Latinos Unidos, said that most of the prep work consisted of hand-making decorations for the altar, and most of the time setting up the altar was spent making sure everything was placed correctly. 

Petersen also commented that the altar was an even bigger success this year than it had been in previous years, in part thanks to the club’s collaboration with the Roberts art gallery. Petersen said that Dr. Luzma Hernadaz came up with the idea of putting the altar in the art gallery rather than the Warhawks Connection Center where it usually is. Petersen said that moving the altar to the art gallery made the display “more centralized and more visible on campus” which led to it being widely successful. Petersen also said that the art gallery had told her that the exhibit had been getting record-breaking amounts of foot traffic. 

Multiple sources said that the altar appeal does not just come from its beauty or cultural significance but also from its interactive element. For the entire time it was set up anyone who visited it could write out the name of a departed loved one and pin it to the altar. This allowed for the general public to participate in this special tradition which almost certainly contributed to the altar’s great success.