Students on the Downtown Phoenix campus created masks Friday to celebrate Día de los Muertos, the Hispanic holiday that takes place on Nov. 1-2 sometimes known as Day of the Dead, and learn more about an older tradition associated with the festivity.
Celebrating Día de los Muertos involves several traditions, including the calavera makeup resembling sugar skulls and the ofrenda altars in homes meant to honor deceased loved ones.
Mathew Sandoval, a Barrett Honors professor, said he wanted to give students a chance to embrace an older tradition: mask-making.
Sandoval said he wanted to familiarize his Latino and Latina students with the breadth of traditions that exist around Día de los Muertos. With practices like sugar skull makeup growing popular, he said people were moving away from mask-making.
"I wanted students to have that grounding of doing something that was related to Day of the Dead, but not like a contemporary tradition, an older tradition," Sandoval said.
He said he also wanted to educate his non-Latino students on Día de los Muertos traditions, and show that the holiday is not solely based around sugar skull face painting.
To turn his idea into a reality, Sandoval said he reached out to renowned mask making artist Zarco Guerrero.
Sandoval organized a workshop for students to meet Guerrero and create their own Día de los Muertos masks.
After students molded the masks onto their faces and decorated them, Guerrero answered questions and explained his artistic history.
"Participating in the act of creation, it's therapeutic," Guerrero said. "I didn't sit down with any of them, show them how to do anything. The artist is there."
LISTEN: State Press Play Feature: Dia de los Muertos
Guerrero has been an artist for over 50 years and is well known in the mask-making community, according to the Tempe History Museum. He has created art for Día de los Muertos events and made masks for theater productions.
Guerrero said he wanted students to believe in themselves and follow their hearts.
He referenced the Spanish phrase, "La cultura cura," which means "culture heals."
"When you see people celebrating their culture, you see it brings out the best in them," Guerrero said.
Sophia Alcaraz, a sophomore studying criminology and criminal justice, said she appreciated learning more about her culture during the workshop.
"Día de los Muertos has been a big part of my life, so just remembrance and new beginnings and learning new things," Alcaraz said. "I wanted that to be incorporated into my mask.
READ MORE: The Bilingual Press preserves the legacy of Latino stories with bilingual publications
Having the mask molded onto her face was both "nerve-wracking" and "exciting," she said. Once it was taken off and she was able to paint it, she could see others at the workshop focusing on the work and enjoying the experience.
Sandoval said figures and symbols depicted on his mask represented his culture and ancestry, comparing it to an ofrenda.
"Many people who still wear masks during Día de los Muertos have almost always endowed that mask with a certain significance of their ancestors," Sandoval said. "It's not just a mask, it's that they are wearing something that is in honor of their ancestors."
Edited by Dhemi Bell, Carsten Oyer, Grace Lawrence and Sophia Keeling.
Reach the reporter at mlfranc6@asu.edu.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on X.
Myah France is a podcast editor at the state press. Previously was a podcast reporter and is a sophomore in journalism
