Spanish Club Heads to Detroit
For the first time ever, some of our Beal City Spanish Club members were able to go to the Detroit Institute of Art. The art institute has an exhibit every year celebrating the Spanish holiday, Día de los Muertos. The DIA, allows artists to submit their own ofrendas, alters, for the exhibit. These ofrendas are a significant aspect to the holiday.
Día de los Muertos is a holiday is traditionally celebrated from October 31-November 2. It is a holiday that combines the indigenous traditions of harvest celebrations with the Spanish Catholic traditions of All Saints Day. This combined holiday has a variety of aspects including creating alters, to remember those that have died, food, parades, and much more. These alters are called ofrendas. Our students were able to see a variety of artistic interpretations of ofrendas.
Our students were also able to spend a great deal of time learning about the history of Detroit through the murals of Diego Rivera and his murals depicting the auto industry. Diego Rivera was a Mexican muralist that was commissioned to paint the murals in the Detroit Institute of Art in the early 1930’s. It took him less than 1 year to complete the room.
Finally, we went to Mexican town for lunch and ended our excursion at a local bakery. Students were able to try traditional foods and practice some of their Spanish skills. A special thanks to Nancy Worgess and Alejandra Loomis for chaperoning our trip. We had a great time.