Community comes together for Discovery Green Dia de los Muertos ofrenda
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Houston artist Angel Quesada says he is essentially Mr. Dia de los Muertos this year.
Driving the news: Quesada created his fifth annual temporary community ofrenda at Discovery Green on Wednesday. And he is also this year's official artist for the Dia de los Muertos parade celebration on Saturday.
Details: People brought photos of their loved ones, embracing each other with lots of hugs and some tears. The altar was surrounded by colorful papel picado and decked in old photographs, a string of marigolds, sugar skulls and candles.
- Justina Ledesma, who placed a photo of her best friend — who died of kidney cancer 12 years ago — on the ofrenda, says, "She's the first person I want to call when anything happens. It's a big deal here in Houston to be around others who feel the same as you do. ... Though it was so heartbreaking to lose her, I want to celebrate how fortunate I was to have her in my life."
- LGBTQ+ activist and violinist Queen Angelina also performed live Mexican music for the third year.
What they're saying: While Quesada, known for his arts advocacy, did not grow up celebrating the holiday, he now embraces it and considers the event a form of meditation for him. As a tai chi teacher, he also reflects on how the energy flows during the celebration.
- The community ofrenda space "is definitely a kind of a sacred reverence space that I am privileged to create. It makes you think about life and makes you think about death and those places in between and how they're linked together. And I get to speak with all of these folks who have lost somebody, and I'm moved by their stories," he tells Axios.