On Saturday, October 5th, the Danvers Art Association’s third annual ¡Celebracion! will commence. This free family event will be held from 11am-2pm, at the parking lot at 10 Hobart Street (next to the Cherry Street Fish Market). The event, “A celebration of Latin American, Caribbean and Hispanic cultures during the Heritage Month,” will offer food, music, and educational and cultural activities such as crafts, face painting and dance lessons in order to celebrate Latin American, Caribbean and Hispanic cultures.
Danvers High School senior and National Art Honors Society (NAHS) member Alejandra Mayorga has taken a lead in organizing and planning this event. When asked what she thinks this event brings to the danvers community, she responded, “The festival as a whole is just something fun for our community. It’s an opportunity for kids to just come and have a good time doing art.”
By participating in this event, she also wants to promote NAHS’ Day of the Dead event happening on November 1st and 2nd.
“Hopefully our event on Saturday will help us gain more traction and excitement for our event in November,” Alejandra said. NAHS students are hoping this event further educates people as to what the Day of the Dead actually is, considering many Danvers citizens haven’t grown up knowing about the holiday.
Danvers High School art teacher and president of NAHS, Mr. Jeff Surrette, also expanded on future months for NAHS and their Day of the Dead celebrations.
“We’re using this event as kind of a launch for the larger mask project, which we’re building up for the Day of the Dead Celebration Art Exhibit and Family Fun Day happening at the start of November,” Mr. Surette explained. Painted skull masks made at and after the ¡Celebracion! festival will end up being displayed at this exhibit.
“We’re going to collect (the community’s) work at the end of October, hang their work in a special exhibit, and hopefully get a lot of people in there to enjoy it,” Mr. Surette added. “Art is for everybody, and this will allow people to create art while also giving them the opportunity to display it in a gallery setting, which is something that most people never thought they would get to do.”
