Colorful paper flowers, cut paper banners (papel picado), paper stars and streamers, and papier mâché forms are all part of the traditional Mexican decorative arts utilized for holiday celebrations to adorn homes, altars, churches, and neighborhoods. Expertise in preparing these objects includes knowing the correct colors and motifs, as well as the appropriate place and manner of display.
Herminia Romero, who is from the village of San Francisco in Tlatlaya, Mexico, began learning her skills as a child from her mother. Her family held a special position in the village as artists specializing in paper arts for Day of the Dead altars. As a young woman she refined these skills with study at Acatempa in Amatepel. Today San Francisco in California has the benefit of Romero's artistry. Here she dedicates most of the year to preparing paper for her November altars, which are often commissioned by different museums and libraries, including the San Francisco Main Library, La Raza Centro Legal and Gallery Luscombe. This year she and her apprentice, Alicia Sheppeck-Zepeda installed an ofrenda or altar at the Mission cultural Center. Romero emphasizes that her altars demonstrate for the community that decorative paper art, which is inexpensive to complete, can be highly accessible and kept alive, but only through continual practice, demonstration, and outreach.
Sheppeck-Zepeda and Romero have known and worked with each other for over seven years, since they met at the Mission Cultural Center. They have already assembled numerous altars together and now Sheppeck-Zepeda wishes to improve her skills in the paper arts. She says, "Herminia is a master at her art and has such a deep understanding of it that she passes on not just art techniques but conveys their symbolic meaning and her reverence for the art." As a bilingual teacher in San Francisco, she will have ample opportunity to share what she learns from Romero with many generations of children.
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