4th Annual Dia de los Muertos at Bare Hands Gallery

A new friend told me about this public art event happening at a gallery just a few blocks from our place, so we decided to check it out. His description reminded me of the first Redmoon Logan Square Halloween spectacle I attended many years ago, and that turned out to be not an entirely inaccurate comparison. In a long corridor only about three feet wide, people had covered the walls with homespun altars to deceased loved ones, and the whole place was strung with lights and littered with marigolds and paper butterflies. You were encouraged to bring mementos to add. I loved the quotidian objects people had set out in memory of their departed: cigs, favorite foods, golf balls. And of course, lots of photos.

The effect was dizzying, kaleidoscopic, joyful, touching, intriguing. The corridor ran between the back door of the gallery and a door onto the alley, where larger altars were set up outside and murals and paintings hung on the brick walls. Gallery staff served wine and beer under a tent set up in an adjacent parking area, and little kids made sugar skulls at a nearby table.

In a big open, paved space next to the gallery, two bands played at once, kitty-corner from each other. One one stage a woman was doing this weird spoken-wordish singing with accordion accompaniment; on the other, a mariachi band played songs that their crowd seemed to know all the words to. Scattered around the lot were more altars--these a little more like tomb-markers--and small fire pits. There was food, too: fresh tamales and quesadillas from, I believe, Sol y Luna, a restaurant I'm eager to try out. (Confidential to Tori: Look! Real Mexican food!)

While I thought of the old Redmoon days, Todd was reminded of the Pilsen pig roasts -- a bunch of arty-goofy people lighting fires in urban areas -- but with a more diverse crowd (in terms of age, at least; here, there were a good number of little kids). But enough with the comparisons: it was just the kind of grass-roots, community-supported event that feels totally authentic and makes you feel like you're part of something special. We loved it. I felt hopeful. The gallery also offers yoga classes (in the gallery) Monday and Wednesday nights, which I think I'll have to try.