PROGRAM DETAILS:

When Thus-Sun, Oct 30 - Nov 2, 2025 | 10 AM-4 PM, during normal open hours
Location NUMU | 106 E. Main Street
Cost Free with admission

Make paper nichos and tissue paper marigolds for le Día de Los Muertos!

Nichos are small shadow boxes that are decorated to commemorate the life and interests of the departed. Create your nicho with a paper-cut out, and add a photo of a loved one who passed on to honor them. Then, create a marigold using tissue paper and pipe cleaners, honoring the flower significant to the holiday. Place the nichos and marigolds on your family or community’s ofrenda to honor those who passed on and share their stories.

Materials for this activity will be available during regular hours.

What is the nicho boxes’ origin? They are a Latin-American folk art adaptation of the retablo of the Roman Catholic tradition, paintings and housed sculptures placed on altars dedicated to a patron saint or significant event tied to a religious experience. They carry on the traditions of visual storytelling and ancestral veneration.

What is the significance of the marigold? It is known in the Nahuatl language as cempasuchitl (sem-pa-SOO-cheel), “the flower of the dead,” because of its role in observing the departed.  Traditionally, the Nahuatl-speaking peoples of Mesoamerica use it for its strong scent, believing it to be poignant enough to guide the departed back home to visit during the August celebration of Miccaihuitl (Meek-teh-ka-see-wah-tl).