Art With Spirit: Day Of The Dead Nichos!

My Students

Don't be afraid of Dias de los Muertos- Days of the Dead. This is a happy holiday- a time of remembrance and love. My students will create nichos - small 3-dimensional, mixed media sculptures that use tiny skeletons - and humor - within a stage like setting to celebrate life and honor loved ones.

The public middle school where I teach is a gifted magnet known for its ethnic diversity and strong academic profile.

My arts classroom includes everyone - even gifted, ESL, and special needs children. My curriculum is multicultural and project based, with many hands-on projects in which students assist and support each other's learning, like origami, the Japanese art of paper folding and large scale Pop Art paper mache sculptures. My students have different needs, challenges, and personal histories, yet art helps to bridge these divides, as we share in the joy of learning and creating together. Unfortunately, the cuts we have experienced the last few years have made it increasingly difficult to provide art materials and resources to our students without grants and donations. Art, especially, is an expensive subject to teach as we must replace most of our supplies every year!

My Project

My students need tagboard, paint, craft hair, pipe cleaners and glue to create nichos. Nichos are tiny shadow boxes made in Mexico for Day of the Dead. These small, detailed dioramas delight with their playful 3-D skeleton imagery that pays homage to simple and treasured everyday moments in life. Each student will create a nicho, reflecting upon their life, interests and personal history. They will work in miniature, creating a tiny skeleton form that embodies a character, and constructing a scene within a small diorama-like setting. The nicho will capture a special moment, or describe an important characteristic or event about a family member, pet, literary character, or personal hero. They will construct the nicho frame with tagboard, transform it with paint and use found and recycled objects from home to add to the scene in their nicho. For example, a pleated cupcake liner and a toothpick becomes an umbrella for a character who loves to sun bathe. Pipe cleaners provide the 3-D form of the skeletons, and doll hair and scraps of fabric add personality to the tiny figures.

Day of the Dead is a time of joy and celebration.

Students gain an understanding that various cultures have differing views of life and death, as they explore cultural traditions associated with this holiday. They get in touch with their own personal histories and experience art making in a truly meaningful and powerful way. Creating a personal nicho will be a treasured memento for each of my students and will provide an unforgettable experience as each of our histories become shared and valued.