“Day of the Dead” Grass Wall Outdoor Installation
Published on October 09, 2025
“Day of the Dead” Grass Wall Outdoor Installation by Marco Charter Middle School Students at Marco Art Center
Marco Island, October 9, 2025: - Marco Island Center for the Arts invites the public to view the new outdoor installation of the grass walls celebrating “ Día de (los) Muertos - Day of the Dead”. The artwork that decorates the walls was created by the students at the Marco Island Charter Middle School (MICMS) under the direction of Art Teacher Gigi Garraty. MICMS first Day of the Dead exhibition was in 2019 at the Art Center!
The Art Center started its Day of the Dead Grass Wall annual installation project in 2022 as part of its programming for ARTE VIVE, the Collier County celebration of Hispanic Art and Culture.
The installation will be on display from October 13 – November 14, 2025 in the Art Center’s courtyard.
Art students from MICMS have spent time exploring the history, customs and the distinctive artistic tradition of Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. It combines the ancient Aztec custom of celebrating ancestors with All Souls’ Day, a holiday that Spanish invaders brought to Mexico starting in the early 1500s.
The holiday is a time when family and friends remember their deceased loved ones.
These young artists learned how to create their own version of a sugar skull or Calaveras de azucar. These skulls are typically given as gifts or placed on altars as offerings to those who have passed away. They are not meant to be morbid or scary. Instead the students’ grinning designs may remind us to embrace life and cherish our connections to family.
The Art students at Marco Island Charter Middle School are so pleased to have their projects on display for their community at the Marco Island Center for the Arts. Making these traditional plaster-cast sugar skull masks from scratch was so much fun! Our school is grateful for the strong partnership we have with the Marco Island Center for the Arts, and we look forward to future collaborations. My students have had a lot of fun learning about Dia de los Muertos and the traditional art made during this time of the year. They have all made me incredibly proud with their efforts to create beautiful artworks that are representative of these traditions! - Gigi Garraty -Art teacher MICMS
Join Us for the Artist Reception
Second Tuesday Reception: October 14, 2025 | 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Celebrate this extraordinary exhibit and meet some of the young artists during the Center’s signature Second Tuesday event. Admission is free and open to the public.
About Marco Island Center for the Arts
Marco Island Center for the Arts brings a wide variety of arts to its community through art exhibitions, engaging educational programs for adults and children and a diverse assortment of events. The Arts Center Theatre offers both produced and presented theater productions as well as other live entertainment. The Art Center and its theater serve as professional and financial drivers for visual and performing artists and educators through exhibition, performance and teaching opportunities while being a catalyst that fuels economic development, an understanding of cultural diversity and community cohesion.