This Day of the Dead work by artist Paul McMillan is part of the Bakersfield Museum of Art's Dia de los Muertos exhibition which continues through Nov. 22. Photo courtesy of the Bakersfield Museum of Art

Cruz Ramos' work station at the Department of Motor Vehicles on F Street is all deathed-up in anticipation of Dia de los Muertos. Ramos, who has been organizing local Day of the Dead celebrations for nearly two decades, will hold a huge event Nov. 2 at the Golden State Mall, across the street from the DMV. Photo by Louis Medina

Sacred Gypsy Tattoo will be one of many vendors participating in the Dia de los Muertos celebration at the Golden State Mall Nov. 2. They will be displaying various works of art, including Day of the Dead-themed tattoo designs like this one. Photo courtesy of Sacred Gypsy Tattoo

By Louis Medina

Whether it happens in a highbrow or grassroots setting, art is art – and death is death. These transcendental forces will meet this Sunday and Monday in two fanciful Day of the Dead celebrations in downtown Bakersfield.

Art and Death at the Museum

On Sunday, Nov. 1, the Bakersfield Museum of Art will host a one-day Altares de Familia (Family Altars) exhibit in the museum gardens at the corner of 19th and R streets. About a dozen local families will display Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) temporary shrines in memory of their departed loved ones, said museum spokeswoman Beth Pandol.

The 3 to 7 p.m. event will include a 4 p.m. informational discussion about this joyous tradition with Aztec roots that honors the dead by displaying pictures of them, as well as mementos and their favorite foods. For those among the living who are hungry, food will also be available for purchase.

This celebration will take place in conjunction with the museum’s Dia de los Muertos art exhibition featuring colorful skulls and other paintings and sculptures. The exhibition opened Sept. 17 and continues on display through Nov. 22.

Also as part of that show, the museum’s “First Wednesday” event from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Nov. 4 will provide an overview of Dia de los Muertos with an in-depth look at the history of the holiday, how it is celebrated and the wonderful crafts, food and beliefs associated with it. The guest speaker will be Eva Patino  The event is free to members, $4 for non-member seniors, and $5 for adults.

A Monday to Die For — at the Mall

On the calendar, Nov. 2 is the official Day of the Dead. “It is not a movable feast. It’s the day we believe our dearly departed come to visit us,” said Bakersfield’s own “Grande Dame of Death,” Cruz Ramos. For close to two decades she has been organizing Dia de los Muertos events with grassroots help from local artists, dancers, musicians, merchants and entertainment venue owners.

Having missed putting together a celebration last year because she was busy helping her daughter prepare for her wedding, Ramos said her comeback this year on death’s own holiday “is with a vengeance.” And judging from the scale of the noon-to-10 p.m. celebration she has planned at the Golden State Mall, 3201 F St., it may just be the drop-dead largest Day of the Dead event she has ever planned.

A Venue Like a Kingly Mausoleum

For starters, Ramos has been able to secure – at no charge – the use of one of Bakersfield’s best kept convention and party venue secrets: the upper floor of Golden State Mall, including its enormous 12,000-square-foot concourse, and its even more enormous grand ballroom, whose 16,000 square feet can accommodate up to 1,000 people seated, according to owner George Molayem.

Molayem said he decided to offer the free use of his venue – which is gaining popularity as a multipurpose space for quinceañeras, weddings, conventions and trade shows – for several reasons. Ramos is his neighbor, he said, as she works across F Street at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Her community-minded spirit impressed him. “I see her being so organized for an event that she does not make any money off of,” he said. Her drive also speaks to his own sense of altruism. “We’re always looking to help out the community,” he said.

While the Sun is Still Shining

Beginning at noon on Monday, the concourse at the mall will begin to bustle with the activity of vendors and exhibitors. On display will be altars for the dead, pictures, sculptures, body art and face painting exhibits, traditional Mexican arts and crafts including Day of the Dead sugar skulls, and foods such as pan de muerto (bread of the dead), a popular snack often enjoyed together with a cup of hot chocolate.

One of the exhibitors at the concourse will be airbrush artist Al Mendez, manager of The Icehouse Framing and Gallery. Mendez, who paints the backdrops for The Chamber Haunted House as well as the makeup for the popular attraction’s live actors, also paints the skull-face makeup for the members of local ska band Mento Buru, which often plays at Ramos’ Day of the Dead events. Beginning at around 5 p.m. Monday, he said, he will airbrush a death face on “whoever wants their face painted” for $10.

Another exhibitor will be Justin Foss, owner of the Sacred Gypsy tattoo parlor on 19th Street. He and his entire staff will display death-themed tattoo designs as well as other forms of art, including acrylic and oil paintings, statuettes and floral pieces, he said. They will also be doing face painting for tips, he said.

Molayem said he has also encouraged the mall’s vendors, many of whom are hurting in today’s depressed economy, to set up booths at the concourse that day to increase visibility and contact with customers.

At Sunset, Death Lets Down Her Hair

At 6 p.m. Monday, death’s wild rumpus will begin with a procession from F Street into the mall. Participating will be the event vendors and plenty of performers from such local folkloric dance groups as Skeletos, SoLuna/SoLunita and Escuelas Unidas in skull-and-bones costumes, Ramos said. She invites everyone to “use their creativity, their art,” and dress up and join in the fun.

Beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the mall’s grand ballroom, the public will be treated to stylized performances of Mexican death-themed traditional dances by the various folklorico groups. The predominant music accompanying these dances will be the marimba, she said, as its keys and striking mallets “symbolize the rattling of bones.”

There will also be a “Parade of the Famous Dead,” with participants dressing up as Frida Kahlo, Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Buck Owens, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, Heath Ledger, and the most recent famously deceased: Michael Jackson. Ramos said she will also honor the King of Pop by displaying a six-foot tall paper maché sculpture she was still constructing as of this writing.

There will also be a bilingual recitation of “calaveras,” humorous poems about death.  Listeners will be able to read along in “El Calavérico” (“The Skeletonian”), a mock newspaper Ramos is having printed for the occasion.

Finally, those who want to rattle their bones on the dance floor will be able to do so to the sounds of Mento Buru and local Latin fusion group Velorio, whose name appropriately means “Wake.”

Throughout the deathly fun evening, which will end at 10 p.m., the living will be able to satiate their hunger and thirst many times over, as food and drinks will be available for purchase in the concourse and also at the Golden State Mall’s food court on the first floor.