Rituals of Remembering: Living Altars

Rituals of Remembering: Living Altars

This month, we will have a special guest artist, Norma Rios-Sierra, who will talk to the group about the practice of Ofrendas in Latin American culture, and creating them as an act of remembering and celebrating our lost loved ones. We will then talk about those we loved and remembering them through the things that they loved! Our activity will involve create miniature altars to honor our loved ones in preparation of the garden altar we’ll create and sharing stories with the group. This will be in preparation of our final gathering where we can use our drawings to remind us what we’d like to bring to the collective altar in October.

All ages are welcome—we will have a youth facilitator doing an age-appropraite parallel activity with children. Please let us know if you will bring your kids and how many!

This event is FREE and open to everyone.

Please reach out via Contact the organizer feature with any questions about the event or accessibilty.

Guest Artist Bio: Norma Rios-Sierra is an Artist, Activist, and lover of all things Mini. Her work is a reflection of her experience as a Mexican immigrant growing up in Chicago. She has exhibited ofrendas in places such as the Field Museum, created murals for the Chicago Children's Museum (Navy Pier) and the DuPage Children's Museum, and has taught and shared her work at schools and organizations all across the city. In addition to her creative work, when Norma isn't busy organizing events or actions, she is making tiny little things.

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Rituals of Remembering is a discussion and creative activity-based workshop series that aims to provide a space and structure for participants to open and deepen our experience of grief, loss, and remembering beyond the death of those we love, using the garden space as the central theme. Each month will focus on a particular theme and related activity and invite participants to discuss rituals of remembering together in a group setting. Each activity will also give opportunities to incorporate remembering directly into the garden space, so that community members may return to remember in the garden beyond the workshop series. Events can be attended individually or as a series in 2025 one Saturday a month in March, April, May, June, August, September, and October 2025.

This event series resented in partnership with Mothers ona Mission28, Moms Demand Action Oak Park/Austin, NeighborSpace, and Healing Illinois.

Artist/Facilitator: A.Martinez (she/her) is an interdisciplinary visual artist, poet, mother, and facilitator living in Chicago. Her work explores grief, rituals, ecology, and Motherhood. Alyssa’s social practice involves participatory community gatherings including those for mothers in the arts. In addition to her creative work, Alyssa works as an arts administrator for music performance organizations and is an avid gardener, and loves exploring the world with her kid.

Youth Facilitator: Gabriella (Gaby) Martinez is a multi-disciplinary performing artist and educator living in Chicago, IL. She is a facilitator and advocate for inclusion and accessibility. She grew up in Cleveland, OH and earned a Bachelors of Science in Psychology and Dance. Gaby continues to find connections between both realms of study through her practices, performances, and teachings. Being outside and tending to nature brings her much joy and she is happy to share in community.

Honoring the Legacy of our friend and collaborator Ms. Bertha Purnell who transitioned on Janurary 18th, 2025.