Holyoke Community Ofrenda
An ofrenda in celebration of Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead.
2023 Community Ofrenda
Originally uploaded by the Holyoke Media team, November 1st, 2023.
This event was made possible by the Holyoke Local Cultural Council, the Easthampton Cultural Council, and Masscultural, thank you for your support in hosting the 5th Annual Community Ofrenda.
The fifth annual Community Ofrenda! The event was hosted at; Laurel Park, Holyoke, the Wistariahurst museum, Holyoke, and 50 Arrow Gallery. The event, which ran over the course of a few days saw a total of 250 photos of passed loved ones being atributed as rememberance.
2022 Community Ofrenda
The fourth annual Community Ofrenda hosted at 50 Arrow Gallery in Easthampton, and Laurel Park in Holyoke. The event resulted in around 200 people who had passed previously being remember by their families and loved ones, all possible thanks to funding from the Holyoke Local Cultural Council.
2021 Community Ofrenda
The third annual Ofrenda erected behind the Baustein Building on Main Street displayed photos of about 400 people who had passed who were being remembered by their loved ones.
2020 Community Ofrenda
In 2020 Attack Bear Press received a generous grant from New England Foundation for the Arts and was able to expand the Holyoke community ofrenda to include live stream performances to the Wistariahurst Museum garden as well as the Calaveras de Coronavirus exhibit at the Readywipe Gallery. This year’s ofrenda also moved outdoors to both accommodate safe COVID-19 protocol during the pandemic and to stay true to the tradition of an open ofrenda that the community could access day or night.
This year’s ofrenda also coincided with the US National Election Day on November 3rd. While typically the ofrenda would have closed that day, we felt that it was important that with this year’s Dia de Muertos coinciding with an unprecedented election that the ofrenda remain open and accessible at all times to all people.
Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette
2019 Community Ofrenda
In 2019 Jason Montgomery from Attack Bear Press along with Neftali Duran and other members of the indigenous and Latinx community in Western Massachusetts constructed a community ofrenda at the Readywipe Gallery in Holyoke. This was not the first community ofrenda in the city for Day of the Dead, but the first in which Attack Bear Press contributors took part, and the foundation for what has become a yearly project for us.
