Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Galleries honor Mexican tradition with sugar skulls

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Mexican Sugar Skulls, decorated with sugar, frosting, sequins and foil are used to honor deceased loved ones.

Rustic Living and Viva Southwest Galleries are bringing the Mexican tradition of Day of the Dead to Henderson with a workshop to create and decorate sugar skulls Oct. 11.

The free class begins at 10:15 a.m., and participants will decorate skulls to honor deceased loved ones while listening to festive music and sampling snacks and refreshments.

People in Mexico honor the dead Nov. 1 and 2 with a party. The sugar skulls, a centerpiece of the celebration, represent a practice of the Aztec, Maya and Zapotec cultures. Skulls of the dead were kept as trophies and displayed during the ninth month of the Aztec calendar to symbolize death and rebirth.

Today, Mexican sugar skulls, made of granulated and powdered sugar and meringue powder, are used to honor deceased family members.

"I grew up in Venice, Calif., where there is a heavy Mexican influence," Rustic Living owner Don Kyle said. "I greatly appreciate the folk art, and want expose people to different kinds of art."

The skulls are decorated with colored sugar, frosting, colored foil and sequins and inscribed with the name of the person they honor. They are often decorated uniquely to represent the individual who has passed on. A pipe may be fashioned from tin foil to adorn the skull for a departed pipe-smoking grandfather.

Trinkets belonging to the departed may also be used in decorating the skulls, and participants are encouraged to bring such trinkets if they wish.

The decorated skulls are then placed on home altars or tombs to create a happy place for the spirit to visit.

The class is free but space is limited. Those interested can sign up in person at Rustic Living, 129 N. Gibson Road, or by calling 558-7004. Walk-in will be accepted if space if available.

Diana Cox can be reached at 990-8183 or [email protected].

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