Lunch and Learn

Upcoming Lunch and Learn Event

NOVEMBER 8 | 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS-Cultural Origins

Dia de Los Muertos has become part of mainstream pop culture, but what are its true cultural origins? What does it mean to those celebrating it today? This session will focus on Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead, exploring its precolonial origins, its evolution after the conquest, and how it has been adapted in the present day in Hispanic culture and beyond.

Meet the Panelists:

Jacobo Lovo: Moderator

Jacobo Lovo is the Managing Artistic Director of Latino Arts, Inc. He received his BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) and his Teaching Certification from Alverno College. As a veteran Art Educator, Jacobo was responsible for leading colleagues at UCC's Bruce Guadalupe Community School middle school through a federal grant to promote arts education into reading and math curriculum. Through his career, Jacobo has used his role as an educator to include community outreach through collaboration with community partners. Jacobo believes in the positive impact the arts has on our quality of life and has dedicated his career to creating meaningful access in the arts for the youth in our city.

Karina Belen Blas Rodriguez: 

Ms. Rodriguez currently serves as the Deputy Consul Consulate of Mexico in Milwaukee. She holds a Bachelor' Degree in International Relations from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and a Master's Degree in Applied Public Management from the Colegio de la Frontera Notre in Tijuana, Mexico. Her interest in Mexican Foreign Service began during her internship at the Department of Community Affairs in the Consulate of Mexico in Los Angeles, CA.

Laura Matthews:

Laura Matthews teaches Latin American, Mexican and Central American history at Marquette University. Her focus includes Mesoamerican practice found in many different parts of what is now Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, etc..Other points of interest within her field include pre-Columbian philosophies that underlay these practices, and some of the adjustments that were made as a result of Colonialism and Nationalism.

Jose Chavez:

Jose Alfredo Chavez is a self-taught Mexican artist well known for his life-size skeleton figures that exemplify the humorous side of Day of the Dead. Focusing on the idea that it doesn't matter who we were in life or how much we had, as skeletons, we all look the same. Chavez has also created his own unique mark of Day of the Dead traditions with is own Papier Mache masterpieces.