Fowler Festival: Día de los Muertos

Celebrate the Fowler Museum’s annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration with artist Maria Elena Cruz and honor loved ones who have passed away through hands-on artmaking, music, and community gathering. Create your own mini ofrendas (shrines/offerings) and colorful sugar skull piñatas, discover the exhibitions on view, enjoy light refreshments, and close the afternoon with a live performance by Mariachi Alta California.

Maria Elena Cruz is a professional artist, curator, art educator, and community builder. She is the founder-director of Dial Art: “A Call to enrich, empower, and serve communities through art.” She has been designing curricula and teaching art for over 20 years. She exhibits her fine art and curates group exhibitions at various galleries throughout California and abroad.

Mariachi Alta California was started in 2006 by members of the student group, Mariachi de Uclatlán. A few years later, after graduation, they decided to take the band off campus and landed a residency in Santa Monica. The rest is history. Over the years, group members have ventured into various professions but they always gather for what brought them together as young college students: la música del mariachi.