Muertos y Marigolds
community, art, and activism in the heart of Albuquerque's South Valley
comunidad, arte y activismo en el corazón del South Valley de Albuquerque
Join us for the 2025 South Valley Marigold Procession & Celebration
November 2, 2025
12-4 PM
Location TBA
Join us for community art workshops every Saturday leading up to the event
Día de los Muertos
The mission the South Valley Día de los Muertos Celebration and Marigold Procession include:
- To exert cultural self-determination,
- To strengthen community,
- To promote cultural exchange through intergenerational learning and expression through art, music, food, dance and political satire,
- To promote pride in South Valley cultural identity through our grassroots, non-corporate organizing.
2024 Art Contest Theme
“La cholla knows where water’s found: dejar en paz nuestra tierra ancestral”
2024 Art Contest wINNER
Fall 2024
Artist Bio
Lillian Estes is a disabled artist and activist born and raised on unceded Tiwa land. As a multidisciplinary artist she explores varied mediums, including fiber, watercolor, photography, ceramic sculpture, and found objects. Her work explores the interactions between bodies and space, integrating whimsy and playfulness with themes of ecology, identity, and interconnectedness.
Artist Statement
Modern sensibilities demand peacefulness and softness from every being, but nature is just as brutal as it is beautiful. I hope to capture the beauty in the harshness of survival. Resilient communities demand ecosystemic reciprocity, just as the cholla provides housing for the cactus wren, the cactus wren provides food for the hungry snake. Humans can return to lives that are in balance with the laws of nature once again, learning from the hearty cholla how to be strong, live with less, and give home and life to other beings. My work aims to capture the spirit of beings, gentle and ferocious alike, and to nurture reverence for the non-human world.
2024 Official Graphic by Lillian Estes (@milkweeder)
Making our celebration possible
The South Valley Día de los Muertos Celebration and Marigold Parade receives funding from The New Mexico Arts and the McCune Foundation. We also receive in-kind support from Bernalillo County and some community organizations. Over the last few years, in-kind support and organizational support has diminished due to budget cuts adopted by the state government and other agencies.
We, the organizers of these much loved South Valley events, must now rely more and more on your donations of time and finances. In addition to your direct support, we are also interested in other funding opportunities. If you would like to help, please us know by emailing us at info@muertosymarigolds.org.
