Milwaukee Art Museum Hosts Annual Día de los Muertos Celebration

Milwaukee, Wis. – September 24, 2019 – On Sunday, Oct. 13, families are invited to once again celebrate the traditional Mexican holiday Day of the Dead with the Milwaukee Art Museum at Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sundays: Día de los Muertos. For 22 years, the Museum has partnered with artists and organizations from the Milwaukee community to host popular Día de los Muertos family events.

From 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., families will take over the Museum as they explore the colors and symbols of Day of the Dead through art activities such as making paper flowers and skeleton paintings. Visitors are invited to create a remembrance of someone special who has passed to add to the community ofrenda (altar).

From 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., representatives from First Stage Children’s Theater will join visitors at the Museum for the event. Families can learn about the world premiere of On the Wings of a Mariposa, a play set amidst the Monarch butterflies’ annual migration and Día de los Muertos celebrations, as they receive Monarch butterfly tattoos and decorate mini posters of the show.

Celeste Contreras, 2019 Artist-in-Residence at Milwaukee Public Library Mitchell Street Branch, will bring mixed-media art that honors her ancestors, while Walker’s Point Center for the Arts will explore some of the holiday’s special traditions with visitors. Marina Croft’s Milwaukee-based Dance Academy of Mexico will present Mexican folkloric dance in traditional costumes beginning at 11 a.m.

The cost to attend Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sundays: Día de los Muertos is included in Museum admission. Thanks to Kohl’s, Museum attendance is always free for kids ages 12 and under.

Related Museum Events:

The Milwaukee Art Museum’s mobile art studio, Kohl’s Color Wheels, will be at the Marcus Center’s Todd Wehr Theater on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19 and 20, for opening weekend of On the Wings of a Mariposa. From 2:30 until 3:15 p.m., families attending the shows can create wearable Monarch butterflies to take home as a keepsake. The Kohl’s Color Wheels team will also join artist in residence Celeste Contreras at the Mitchell Street Library on Wednesday, Oct. 30, from 4 until 7 p.m., for a traditional Día de los Muertos celebration and procession. The Museum’s off-site studio program provides art activities, free of charge, at events throughout the community year-round.

The Museum will display the ofrenda again on Nov. 2 throughout the day in Windhover Hall.

Also on Nov. 2, from 7–10 p.m., the Museum will host a special evening celebration presented by El Conquistador Latino Newspaper for Dia de los Muertos with a Catrina costume contest, an authentic Mexican dinner, and a night of dancing. Tickets are $50/$40 for Museum Members, available in advance by calling El Conquistador at 414-383-1000.

About Family Sundays
Families can experience art together at Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sundays, the Museum’s special event with hands-on art-making activities, performances, and more, which happens five times a year. For additional information, visit mam.org/artgeneration.

About the Milwaukee Art Museum

Home to a rich collection of more than 30,000 works of art, the Milwaukee Art Museum is located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Its campus includes the Santiago Calatrava–designed Quadracci Pavilion, annually showcasing three feature exhibitions, and the Eero Saarinen–designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center and David Kahler‒designed addition. In 2016, after a yearlong renovation, the Museum reopened its Collection Galleries, debuting nearly 2,500 world-class works of art within dramatically transformed galleries and a new lakefront addition. This reimagined space also allows for the presentation of additional changing exhibitions. For more information, please visit: mam.org.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.