Thursday, November 1, 2012

Day of The Dead altars celebrate musicians - By: Jim Beal Jr. / San Antonio Express News

"With ersatz zombies and fake, sheet-wearing Halloween ghosts out of the way, it's time to honor the dead.



A Día de los Muertos altar is dedicated to the late Tejano star Selena.
Photo: Darren Abate, FRL / SA 

Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is celebrated on the Catholic holy day All Saints' Day (Nov. 1) and feast day All Souls' Day (Nov. 2). It is a time to remember those who have died.

At the South Texas Popular Culture Center, Texas musicians have been memorialized with 17 Día de los Muertos altars and a large community altar.

"Día de los Muertos is such a San Antonio kind of holiday that we wanted to acknowledge that the same way we do music, so doing altars for musicians seemed to be a natural way to celebrate the musicians and their music," said Michael Ann Coker, the center's executive director. "We gave all the artists the same size plywood box, and they paid for all the decorations. They literally thought outside the box. We plan to do this every year."