By Misty Cryer
The Pearl of the Pecos Arts and Cultural District celebrates tradition and culture while promoting art events, and now, the committee is hosting an event that recognizes the tradition of The Day of the Dead (i.e., Dia de los Muertos), a holiday commonly observed in Mexico and in communities with a Mexican heritage.
A popup art event with the theme Dia de los Muertos will be featured from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on November 1 at The Other Side of Milton’s Brewery, 213 West Mermod Street.
“This is our third popup art event that we have done with the Pearl of Pecos Arts and Cultural District Committee. They’ve all kind of had different themes,” said Kat Davis, Executive Director of Carlsbad MainStreet.
In March, a similar event was held to celebrate women in the arts, Davis said. “It was all female artists who participated,” she explained.
“For this one for November, we wanted to celebrate our Mexican Culture Artists that we have within the community. We will have five artists,” said Davis. She said that is the number of artists who have been featured in previous events. Featured artists for this event include Renee Valliere, Sky Soto, Gwendolyn Alanzo, and Mike Campos, she said.
“There will be some culinary art—some food—as well as art of all different mediums, but really just following within the theme,” said Davis.
In explaining the purpose of the popup style of the events, Davis said, “The reason that we started doing these events was just to make art a little bit more accessible to the public. Sometimes, an art gallery setting can be intimidating, or the hours don’t really work for people. This is chance for the community to experience art in a different way.”
Davis said the artists that participate in the event are on site, so attendees can communicate with them. “There will be pieces for sale. We have had people do like artist demos there. It is up to the artist what they would like to do with their space,” she said.
The Pearl of the Pecos Arts and Cultural District will have this type of event at least once a year, but the committee strives to host one twice a year, with one in the spring and one in the fall, said Davis. She explained that the Pearl of the Pecos is a committee of Carlsbad Mainstreet that focuses on arts and cultural projects within the district.
“A lot of the murals that you see in the downtown area were done through the committee,” said Davis. Other events that the committee works on are, of course, the art events, she said, adding that the committee works with the library and the museum on other projects in addition to encouraging art education.
The event announcement published on the Facebook page for Pearl of the Pecos Arts and Cultural District says, “Join Carlsbad’s POP Arts & Cultural District for a POPup Art Event—Día de los Muertos themed! Celebrating the rich traditions and vibrant culture through local artists in our community. Meet local artists, learn more about the cultural celebration, meet the committee members who are working to promote the arts in Carlsbad, and learn more about how you can become involved with the creative community in Carlsbad.”
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