You ever have a moment where you felt you've done this before? Where you're intuition takes over and you feel a pulsating light from inside you beckon your soul to follow you're dreams or work hard or to battle the deepest emotions that lay within you? Those are the moments I feel our ancestors are roaming in our blood channeling us to be stronger and hold strength in what they created and lived. Dia De Los Muertos is the ancient holiday dated back to the Aztecs 3,000 years . Originally a celebration for the godess Mictēcacihuātl "Lady of the Dead Her role is to watch over the bones of the dead and preside over the ancient festivals of the dead. She was the the ruler of Mictlān The aztec underworld. With this altar created by me Cal Duran and in collaboration with Grace Noel we wanted to pay homage and honor the ancient roots of Dia De Los Muertos to connect the dots to then and now. So we wanted to create a space that took you to a different realm. With 300 hand carved and hand printed prints like papel picado it gives guidance to our ancestors, 100 handmade clay skulls to represent our ancestors, 300 strung fresh flowers to honor the past ones, 200 hand stamped and cut butterflies to show transformation, 50 hand made clay hands to show warmth from the living, 2 handmade clay sun and moon portals , a monarch butterfly nicho altar with pieces from the museums collection and to honor the Aztec origin a Giant hand made Aztec Calendar. With this installation I hope you can feel the light and guidance that holds such reverence inside us , that with this ancient holiday you can see the value of remembrance that this life in this realm must be cherished and when we leave we just transform and our legacy will be remembered. The universe is inside us and we create our paths and our ancestors are guiding us we just need to listen. "We are all made of sunshine. Sunshine makes the plants grow, the water flow, and the wind blow. So now it is time to go on a magical journey through the rainbow." Grace Noel Much thanks to the Museo for the space and much thanks to the spirits of our past ones guiding me every step of the way. Entrance altar installation Made by Cal Duran: Artbycal.com and Grace Noel