By Brynna Williamson
If you heard about Winnsboro’s “Dia de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead) exhibit, and you were visualizing some spooky skeletons stuffed into a musty, dark corner, let me tell you now that you were thinking wrong.
The exhibit, which was on display from October 31 until November 7 at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts, could not have been more the opposite of that. It was a vibrant, colorful, vivacious celebration.
The Holiday
According to Ale McComic, who is the new director of Winnsboro’s Center for the Arts, Dia de los Muertos is a “Mexican tradition that honors the life of those that have gone to the next stage of living.”
The beauty of the holiday is in the details. Every Dia de los Muertos exhibit, McComic says, will feature an “altar” with a photo of a deceased loved one and something that reminds the viewer of them—whether that’s a food they liked, something to represent their life lessons, or an object they loved. Each exhibit also features lanterns or lights, which McComic says have always represented “the light of Christ, (who) guides us to a better life, where there are no tears.” Finally, each exhibit has bright, beautiful colors and decorations to remind the viewer of the “happy place” in Heaven.
“The representation of this is the colorfulness of the world that awaits us,” said McComic. “It’s not a sad thing. It’s not a spooky thing. That’s why we try to make the Catrinas very beautiful. It’s just the next stage of life. And it’s a way to say we shouldn’t be afraid of death; it’s actually going to a colorful, very beautiful world.”
Winnsboro’s Dia de los Muertos exhibit featured lanterns, music, artwork from local artists like Alex Faber Smith, Valery Guignon, and Samantha Vargas, and photos of Mexican artists who have passed on.
Live Catrinas, who represents the beauty of the next life, dressed up in traditional bright, cheerful clothing and went through some of Winnsboro’s downtown businesses, restaurants, and more. They even had music and dancing!
With the clapping, the laughter, the bright colors, the celebration, and more, can you imagine how cheerful the event was?
The Reception
Good thing that Wood County’s own Winnsboro knows what the celebration is about.
Despite her initial fears that no one would come to the exhibit, McComic says that Winnsboro citizens—and those who came from even farther away—went wild for the all-out Dia de los Muertos celebration.
“I think I was amazed by the welcoming of the community,” she said. “I was amazed at how people were reallyexcited about it, they clapped when the (Catrinas) went by, and they were really excited. A lot of people mentioned, ‘We needed this, we needed this! We needed to see the beauty of it.’”
“It was really a very, very nice thing to experience. It was amazing,” said McComic with a smile.
In fact, not only did people turn out in droves to see Wood County’s Dia de los Muertos celebration, but so many people volunteered to help that McComic says she was shocked.
It takes all kinds to make an event happen, and that’s just what Winnsboro’s celebration had: local artists, “a lot of children,” background workers, and even some high schoolers who went in the crowds dressed up as Catrinas all participated.
“We had little children also participating, making the art,” said McComic. “(There was) so much help. I could not believe it. Volunteers would be like, ‘Give me something to do!’”
In fact, some of our local schools helped to make this event happen: Como-Pickton’s high school art class and Bizzy Bee Academy both pitched in to help make all of the beautiful artwork.
Next Year’s Plan
Did you miss the celebration this year? No worries! Winnsboro is bringing back the celebration in 2025, and this time it is officially a “yearly” event.
McComic even said that, next year, some boys have volunteered to also walk around as the male version of Catrinas, which are called Catríns. The Winnsboro Center for the Arts is even considering doing a live Catrina contest, with free makeup application and more!
“We had a lot of Hispanic people who came this year, and they made some comments about feeling really welcome and appreciated because of the (exhibit),” said McComic. “It’s really becoming what we wanted—a point of community. Art unites us.”