A small group of 15 men, women and children gather around white folding tables facing Daniel Camacho who sits at the head of the table; the group stare at the small baseball-sized object Camacho holds in his left hand. Camacho takes a pastry bag filled with blue icing and squeezes little eyes onto a white sugar skull. The skull is what the group stares at and
Camacho, a local Fruitvale artist, teaches a workshop on how to make and decorate sugar skulls for the upcoming celebration of Dia de los Muertos.
The Unity Council of Oakland, a social services organization, sponsors the annual Dia de los Muertos festival and this year they have arranged workshops open to the public to promote involvement within the community to help create art for the festival. Hector Rangel runs Libros, Artes y Cultura, a non-profit organization inside the Oakland Workers Center building on International Boulevard; Rangel has offered his space to host the workshops. Rangel offers his space because he thinks that Dia de los Muertos is a celebration that Latinos in this country should not forget. Rangel wants others from outside of the Latino community to learn about the celebration that honors the dead to partake in the ritual and make it a part of their own culture.
The workshops began in August and ended last Thursday evening. Every Thursday there have been different themes like how to make flores de papel picado (paper mâché flowers,) clay bowls and sugar skulls. The crafts taught are typical crafts used in making altars that support offerings or memories of loved ones that have passed away.
As the sound of rushing cars from International Boulevard echo through the hallways of the building,the group within chatters amongst themselves and discuss how each one will personalize their sugar skulls.
Frank Cortez, 10, tries to draw a diagram of his sugar skull. A frown grows over Frank’s mouth; in frustration he crumples the page and hides it under his chair. Frank sulks in his chair and a tear wells up in the corner of his eye. His mother Teresa Cortez sees his frustration and invites him to come help decorate her sugar skull. The rest of the group ignore Frank’s tantrum but Camacho watches the boy try to muscle his way in on his mother’s project. “No causas berrinche aqui; tranquilo,” (don’t cause problems here; calm down.) Frank’s mother gives him a reprimanding look and nods her head in agreement with Camacho.
Lead Artist Coordinator for the Dia de los Muertos workshops, Peter Perez, surveys the room in contentment. “It’s wonderful to see people from the community come and share in this experience together.” Perez currently lives in Petaluma and has coordinated Dia de los Muertos festivals there in previous years. Perez says, “The mostly white-based community take a little more coaxing to jump into the art,” here the community doesn’t even know each other but become close, “perhaps it’s because of the Latin culture.”
As the group smile and laugh at the bright colors and stray lines on their skulls some of the artists reflect on the seriousness of their work. Ernesto Cortez, Frank’s uncle, knows exactly for whom his skull is dedicated to. Cortez squeezes the word “abuelito” (grandpa) on the forehead of his skull. Margarito was Cortez’s grandpa.
Teresa and Ernesto Cortez are siblings and along with Teresa’s son Frank are the only members of their family here in the United States, the rest of their family is back in Pueblo Mexico. Teresa Cortez has been to all the workshops since they began in August. Cortez was excited to join the classes because she wants to instill a sense of tradition in her son; she’s afraid he will forget his culture.
The Cortez family have participated in the workshops, will have their own altar during the festival in Fruitvale and will do a traditional celebration in their home beginning October 26 through November 1, the actual day Dia de los Muertos is celebrated.
As the clock nears 8:30 p.m. Rangel begins to wipe the powdered sugar off the table, stack up the chairs and usher the people out of the room. Teresa Cortez asks Rangel “Y para la proxima semana?” (“And for next week?”) Rangel looks at her and says there are no more classes; now everyone has to take what they have learned so far and create their own altars. Cortez looks at Rangel in disappointment and says she likes having a place to go to create art every Thursday. Rangel tells her not to worry because Libros, Artes y Cultura is always promoting art and dance workshops throughout the year.
The Cortez’s are the last to leave the building, they turn and face Rangel to shake his hand and thank him for holding the classes.
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