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La Ofrenda

Carina Santos-Mendez

Refran: "Flowers greet us and bid us goodbye"


Card Description: I chose cultural traits as my subject matter because I wanted to express what we do for our culture and out loves one. The colors the piece represents are just there to symbolize that anything can have a great meaning behind their colors and how it can be special for you. For me personally, this card represents you putting up and ofrenda, a special place your loved ones that have passed away that can come visit you when you set up something beautiful for them. But I want the audience to see that there is also so much meaning behind the history of the ofrendas that people make for Dia de Los Muertos. What inspired me about this subject is that I love to celebrate this day because it's the day where we show our loved ones that they will never be forgotten or left behind in life. What I learned about Dia de los Muertos was that the first time they ever celebrated it was 3,000 years ago. They still celebrated it till this day, but I think a lot of people celebrate it differently where they are from, I still think it's a beautiful tradition everyone does though celebrating time with their family.


Student Biography:  My name is Carina Santos-Mendez, and I am Senior at Santa Maria High School. I live in Santa Maria, California with my mom, dad, sister, and my brother. What inspired me to draw my lotería card was because I just wanted to show that Dia de Los Muertos is special to everyone because it's the day you can celebrate with their loved ones up in heaven. The artist process for me was a bit stressful because it was hard to think of what I was going to draw and how I wanted it to look like. My life after high school will be pretty interesting and fun because I will be joining the military (army) and meeting new people throughout my journey in life. From there I will just let life decide what comes along and hopefully choses the right paths for me in life.

Grade: 12

Card Number: 8

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