Ahead of Dia de los Muertos, the Cal State Monterey Bay Visual and Public Arts Department hosted an open class-workshop last week where students learned how to decorate sugar skulls as part of a semester-long workshop.
The Sugar Skull event is part of the Día de los Muertos workshop class. Which aims to introduce students through lectures about the story behind Dia de los Muertos. Working toward the main event on Nov. 2. In the sugar skull workshop students were taught how to decorate and do their own personal designs based on pre-made sugar skulls.
“The process to dry them takes a while,” said Francesca Dreyer, a freshman visual public arts major student.
Dreyer explains her personal meaning behind decorating sugar skulls is representing death not as a negative meaning but moving to the next life cycle.
“That’s why these sugar skulls are like bright colors and decorated,” said Dreyer. “And it’s supposed to represent like a happy thing for the holiday.”
Dreyer says people often carve names into the front or backs if they are dedicating the skull to anyone.
Each student at the workshop gives their own personal meaning to decorating sugar skulls. Juliet Mena, a sophomore visual public art major, believes that decorating brings life and joy to the celebration tof Dia de los Muertos.
“I love Dia de los Muertos and sugar skull making,” said Mena, “because it brings life back into it. Celebrating that our life isn’t infinite like, we all come to an end one day.”
Mena says that a moment that stuck with her was about the freedom about making and decorating the sugar skulls.
“So I had a lot of fun just making different patterns of skulls,” said Mena. “Choosing different colors that I thought would look pretty in molding the skulls.”
One of the learning outcomes of the skull candy workshop is to meet grief and conjure the spirits of their past loved ones. Samantha Saldana, faculty from the Visual and Public Arts Department, explains how the workshop greets death in a cultural way.
“We do lectures in class about the cultural significance and the spiritual significance and during the workshops,” said Saldana.
As faculty from Dia de los Muertos workshop class, Saldana is surprised about the feedback heard from the students behind the cultural celebration, about how the western commercialization of Dia de Muertos has made people believe it is a secondary Halloween celebration.
“It very much isn’t. It’s rooted in Aztec and Mexican culture and history,” said Saldana. “And so speaking with my students and hearing what they have to say about the class has been very touching.”
Saldana says that this semester 25 students enrolled in the workshop and have done an amazing job. The students’ projects will be presented at the Dia de los Muertos celebration on Monday at VPA department building 70.