week 5 Ofelia Esparza

Ofelia Esparza and her Daughter

Becoming Los Angeles Nacimiento at NHM Los Angeles

Mural of Ophelia Esparza by Erin Yoshi on the side of the building where her studio resides

I was really inspired by our Guest Speaker Ofelia Esparza because she had considered herself an artist even when she was working as a school teacher. I also thought it was amazing that even though Ofelia’s mother was an artist, her mother never considered herself an artist. The fact that Ophelia made the conscious choice of calling herself an artist is a very inspiring generational change. I also love to learn about the background and the process of her Día de los Muertos altar installations and the ones she has helped the community at Self-Help Graphics. The importance of honoring her family in her work, particularly the women in her family (her mother and her great grandmother) was something I found incredibly beautiful and showed me the importance of learning and documenting your family history via storytelling. The fact that her mother was the one who taught her how to make these Día de los Muertos altars also shows she the act of doing and showing is important to keep one’s culture and traditions and helping form a sense of self that also ties ourselves to our ancestors.

I also learned that she had a permanent nacimiento (she said in class it was more of a nacimiento than an ofrenda) at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. The nacimiento is a representation of LA’s history and of the different people that live here. I haven't been to the NHM since high school and this piece is now serving as a great encouragement for me to visit during my spring break. Another part of her presentation that I thought was amazing was that in an artist exchange with Self-Help Graphics, she was able to create a Día de los Muertos altar in Scotland. The fact that the people in Scotland loved the concept of an altar and how it related to the ancestors they lost throughout their history for independence. I was also surprised to know that even though she was a great inspiration behind the culture development of the movie COCO, she was not paid. The fact that Disney is a multi-billionaire company and cuts corners at paying cultural consultants for the film is ridiculous.