LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S DIA DE LOS MUERTOS MINI-ALTAR AT LONGMONT MUSEUM

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Day of the Dead mini-marketplace altar is on display

at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center's Día de los Muertos Exhibition.

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Day of the Dead mini-marketplace altar is on display

at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center's Día de los Muertos Exhibition.

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Day of the Dead marketplace altar's Tree of Life.

The Longmont Museum and Cultural Center's 12th Annual "El Dia de los Muertos Exhibition" includes two new altars by Laurie Beth Zuckerman. 

I designed, built and painted this altar nicho beginning in 1989, and over the years I have collected miniature Mexican folk art to create this diorama of a tienda/ mercado. I also hand-painted the "Tree of Life" candelabra which crowns the top of the altar. Many of the objects are vintage figurines I have collected from flea markets around the country, while others were gathered on my own visits to Colonial Mexico. There are even tiny Mexican Day of the Dead skulls, and calacas from Peru.

Last year I created one of my largest altar installation during my Altarmaker-in-Residency at the Longmont Museum. The contrast in going from HUGE to MINI-scale this year was fun.

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's "Homage to Old Mexico" Day of the Dead Altar

at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, Colorado 2011

This year's fiesta opening of "El Día de los Muertos" was jam-packed on the evening of October 4. The family day on October 27 will be the last main event for this fabulous exhibit. You can visit the exhibition anytime during its daily run from October 5 through November 4.

For more information about the exhibition and all of the programs, visit the Longmont Museum's website below.

www.ci.longmont.co.us/museum/education/day_of_dead.htm