Somos Lawrence, a community organization, and the Lawrence Percolator, an artist collective, are joining together to hold an event Wednesday commemorating loved ones who have died.
Offerings and altars remembering and honoring loved ones will be displayed throughout the Common Grounds Garden at John Taylor Park. A larger, central installation will honor all who have died in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to information submitted to our events calendar.
More than 9,600 people in Kansas have died from COVID-19, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
“Many of us have lost loved ones from other conditions, but these deaths also came in the context of Covid,” the event page says.
“Historically, the experiences of loss speak through tangible expressions of rituals honoring the dead,” according to the event page. “In Mexico, these simultaneously happy and sad celebrations honoring our loved ones begin on Oct. 26, and end on All Souls’ Day on November 2nd. Throughout this celebration of the Day of the Dead, ‘Somos Lawrence’ families, and the Lawrence Percolator hope to offer a venue to highlight a communal experience of loss, while attentive to the singularity of every death amidst such overwhelming statistics.”
Setup of the altar will begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday (Nov. 2), and everyone is welcome throughout the day to drop by and contribute with flowers, notes, artwork, pictures of loved ones and more, according to organizers. The event is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the park, 200 N. Seventh St. in North Lawrence, behind the Ballard Center.
Somos Lawrence, which is housed in the Ballard Center, describes its mission as to advocate for effective and culturally informed grassroots outreach to non-English-speaking Douglas County residents, “with specific attention to Spanish speakers.” Lawrence Percolator is “an artist collective that works to create a more supportive environment for the arts, and to create new places for the public to learn about and experience the arts,” according to the event info.
“Altar dedicado a quienes partieron en el contexto de la Pandemia ¡Compartamos chocolate de la abuelita, champurrado y pan de muerto!’ / “Altar honoring all who departed in the context of the pandemic loin us for some hot chocolate and Sweet Bread,” an event flyer reads.
Funding from the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council has made the event possible.
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