Museum celebrates El Dia de los Muertos

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When Novi resident Joe Montgomery took his children to the MSU Museum on Sunday, he didn’t know they would be honoring the dead by making decorations with colored frosting and beads.

Montgomery and his family were among 30 community members who participated in making sugar skulls as part of the MSU Museum’s celebration of El Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead.

El Día de los Muertos is celebrated annually on Nov. 1 and 2 in the Latin community to honor the lives of the deceased.

MSU Museum Assistant Curator LuAnne Kozma, who planned the event, said she wanted to give children and families the opportunity to have a hands-on experience in celebrating the museum’s Day of the Dead exhibit, which opened Oct. 28.

“It’s a fun and festive way of honoring the dead,” Kozma said.

The opportunity to give children an experience that would be fun, as well as teach them something new, was a factor in planning the event, Kozma said.

“We wanted to give a hands-on activity for kids,” Kozma said. “They might remember their trip to the museum better.”

Montgomery said the activity was a good experience for his children to do something different.

“They can be creative and have some fun,” Montgomery said.

Kozma said she was pleased with the turnout because people instead could have taken advantage of the nice weather to get ahead on outdoor activities to prepare for the winter.

“It’s nice to see so many families out and not raking leaves,” Kozma said.

After seeing the event in a community newspaper, East Lansing resident Andrea Kirby said she wanted to give her children the chance to spend the afternoon out of the house.

“It’s a beautiful day and a great opportunity to teach them something new,” Kirby said at the event.

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