** Celebrating those who’ve died **

Museum of Art’s Day of Dead festivities not about ghouls

KEIARA CARR | The Journal Gazette

Fernando Zapari says growing up in Mazatlán, Mexico, Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, was one of the liveliest celebrations.

He remembers the cemetery would be filled with thousands of people. His parents would send him off to find the tombstones of their loved ones.

“I remember seeing people singing, eating with their families. I mean thousands of people. The outside of the cemetery was like a big fiesta. There were so many vendors; it was like the Three Rivers Festival. I’m not kidding you,” he says.

The Day of the Dead celebration at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art on Sunday is a way for Zapari to share what he remembers with a new generation, he says.

The free event features music, dancing, traditional folklore characters and Mexican food, desserts and beverages.

The museum will also display a series of altars created by local participants.

Zapari says the local newspaper El Mexicano will have an altar this year to celebrate people who made an impact on the local Latino/Hispanic community.

The altar will include tributes to the late Bishop John D’Arcy, the former bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend who died in 2013; Daniel Jehl, political writer for El Mexicano and Frost newspapers who died in July; and Dr. Jose “Carlos” Espinosa, the founder of Clinica Madre de Dios in Fort Wayne who died this month.

Zapari says his secretary Maria Diaz was creating plenty of paper flowers for the altar.

“It’s a way for our kids, our people, not to lose their beautiful culture and traditions,” Zapari says. “Many people cannot travel because of their physical condition or their economics, but this doesn’t cost anything. It’s free, and there’s going to be food and entertainment.”

Amanda Martin, the musuem’s deputy director of administration and communications, says this is the fifth year the museum has hosted a Day of the Dead celebration since the museum’s renovation in 2010.

With plenty of organizations offering Halloween-themed events, Martin says the museum wanted to have a seasonal event that would offer more artistic meaning.

This year, the museum will exhibit eight prints recently acquired from photographer Tim Tadder’s “Las Muertas” series to accompany the celebration.

“We didn’t want it to be about blood and gore and ghouls,” Martin says. “We felt like celebrating Day of the Dead was a twist on the typical American celebration of Halloween. It’s providing people in our community with a different take on this time of the year.”

Martin says the museum has worked with members of the Latino/Hispanic community through a focus committee to better understand the needs and wishes of the community.

She says Zapari, who also is on the committee, has been a big resource for the museum in terms of getting in touch with dancers, mariachi bands and getting the word out.

“All of these people have connections to people who understand the holiday from their cultural perspective,” Martin says. “Of course, you can look up the holiday on Wikipedia, and maybe put something together, but does that really serve people here in northeast Indiana in a real way that’s relevant to them? Probably not.

“It’s a way for us to create the event for people of all cultural backgrounds to enjoy as authentically as we can.”

Zapari says his intention is to show guests what the museum can offer year-round.

“I think it’s important for all of us to get involved. It’s great that the Fort Wayne Museum of Art has been so inviting, so inclusive of all cultures,” he says. “We want people to participate at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art not just for the Day of the Dead. We want them to keep coming back.”