Arts Outreach
Bare Hands has created and contributed to a number of community arts outreach projects over the years. From our arts festivals to our decade-long Art Club partnership with the YWCA of Central Alabama, to workshop packets for classrooms and on-site classes, to installations in partnership with organizations like the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham Museum of Art and Homewood Library, we have worked to fulfill and enhance our mission and vision.
In 2023, through a City of Birmingham Community Arts Grant in partnership with Create Birmingham, we were able to expand our Memorial Altar Box workshops. With our grant partners, Woodlawn Neighborhood Association and muralist Dewon Moton, we held workshops throughout the city aiming to reach more of Birmingham’s 99 neighborhoods. Each workshop offered opportunities to learn about the traditions of Día de los Muertos and to create a personal remembrance. Dewon created a commemorative mural for the Día de los Muertos festival that year and the Woodlawn Neighborhood Association helped coordinate outreach and community locations to maximize engagement across the city.
Bare Hands has continued the goal of bringing Memorial Altar Box workshops to Birmingham’s 99 neighborhoods. We are excited to announce the 2025 summer and fall schedule soon!
Memorial Altar
Box Workshops
Create a memorial for a loved one you would like to remember. Thanks to our community partners, we are hosting Memorial Altar Box workshops led by Bare Hands artists and teachers in various spaces across the city! We provide the space, teachers and materials. You bring your yourself and a photo of your loved one. Don’t have a printed picture? No problem! You can email your pic to aimee.castro@barehandsinc.org and we will print it for you! Or bring an original and we can make a copy.
Class Schedule:
2025 SCHEDULE COMING SOON!
Making a Memorial (Ofrenda) Box
What to Expect at the Workshop
Making a memorial altar (ofrenda) for a lost loved one for the Day of the Dead is a creative and rewarding way to remember them. We recommend using a small box, like a cigar box or shoebox. Often a small altar box becomes the building block of A larger altar that you may want to create in the future.
Things that will be provided (but feel free to bring your own as well):
1 small cigar box – something like a cigar box or shoebox.
An assortment of silk or dried flowers and a variety of decorations like beads, rhinestones and fringe.
Art supplies of all sorts – paints, glitter, ribbons, markers, decoupage glue, etc.
Things to bring with you:
Color copies of photos of the departed - even if the photos are black & white, color copies give the best result.
Small replicas or images of things they enjoyed - foods, beverages, hobbies, sports, work, organizations, books, shows.
Copies of letters, postcards, ticket stubs, quotes.
Things that remind you of them.
Most boxes begin with a photo and build from there, layer by layer. You can look up “small ofrenda boxes” on the internet to find inspiration images. Then, let your heart and imagination be your guide!
*We recommend making copies of original items so that irreplaceable mementos are not lost or damaged.