Warm candlelight, festive colors, marigold flowers and grinning skulls were but a few traditional motifs present at Arte Americas’ Dia De Los Muertos celebration on Nov. 2.

The museum installation, titled “Posada 100” after the Mexican illustrator whose art is a cornerstone of the modern practice, honored the distinctly Mexican tradition.

The art exhibits began Oct. 1 and ended Nov. 10 and displayed both local and national art in a variety of forms, ranging from mixed media to acrylic paint and digital photography, to name a few.

Altars with personal offerings to the dead (ofrendas) were also created, and a colorful wall mural portraying the tragic 1948 airplane crash in Los Gatos Canyon was displayed and included a 3-D miniature sculpture of the tragedy.

Talented artists from Fresno and other Central Valley towns like Madera and Fowler were displayed shoulder-to-shoulder with artists from Mexico City, Oaxaca, Houston, Chicago and Iowa, among many more.

The exhibit encompassed all forms of art created to honor deceased local public figures, family members and trail-blazing Mexican figures such as architect Pedro Ramirez Vasquez and United Farm Workers organizer Jessie de la Cruz.

Andrea Cervantes, a visitor to the gallery, was pleased to spend the day enjoying the gallery with her family.

“It’s really nice to see my culture being recognized,” she said. “I like the art and the way of remembering the dead.”

The installation was accompanied by a separate exhibit in the Fresno Art Museum Partnership Gallery for famous Mexican satirical artist Rojas Guadalupe Posada, a nineteenth century newspaper illustrator whose “La Catrina” image has become a defining figure for the November celebration of dead loved ones and of the grandiose beauty of the Mexican celebration.

“It’s all sort of one cohesive exhibit in that Posada created artwork that is now being used for Dia de Los Muertos,” said Frank Delgado, interim executive director at Arte Americas.

A third exhibit in Arte Americas displayed paintings created by 32 artists from the Instituto Grafico de Chicago, an independent organization of printmakers representing Latino art.

Their “Posada Presente” collection recreates the signature style of Posada, asking the question “What would Posada print today?” as a foundation for the theme.

Each artist used basic colors such as black and red, imperfect lines, a bold sociopolitical message and sarcastic humor to answer the question through their own unique perspective.

The Posada exhibit commemorates the 100th anniversary of the artist’s death in 1913, and is meant to coincide with the autumn celebration he has so greatly influenced.

“He’s kind of like the grandfather,” Arte Americas volunteer Monica Blancarte said of Posada’s role in the Dia de los Muertos celebration.

All of the Posada illustrations, drawn in his signature newspaper style, are originals loaned to Arte Americas by Jim Nikas, a San Ramirez art collector, for the two-month fall installation.

Nikas acquired the illustrations from a family member of the newspaper owner Posada worked with, and also owns the lithographic plates from which copies can be made.

The Posada drawings are “essentially priceless,” according to Delgado.

Posada’s iconic imagery has greatly influenced Dia de Los Muertos and crafted its modern image, although the practice dates back hundreds of years in Mexico when the Mexica and other indigenous tribes honored their dead.

The art exhibits were also accompanied by a Fulton Mall event, the 26th Annual CalaGala Dia de los Muertos Celebration that began with food, drink and entertainment on the Fulton Mall main street before transitioning into a candlelight procession returning to Arte Americas.