If students are looking for a way to create art for the holiday “Day of the Dead,” they can do so in the Tarble Arts Center at 4.p.m. Monday.

This event is one of the many, in celebration of Latin American Heritage month and it is one of the newer events.

Kit Morice, the Tarble Art Center’s Curator of Education, said year round, the center offers classes and workshops for community members, which also includes the Eastern community.

This is the first time the workshop is happening as a part of Latin American Heritage Month.

In the center are workshops for children, adults and high school students. The workshop for Day of the Dead is the revised version of a workshop presented by Morice over the summer. Morice said Kristin Routt, a professor of Spanish, came to the workshop and thought the theme would be great to have during Latin American Heritage Month.

“It’s something fun to do with the materials on hand and it is something you can personalize,” Morice said. ”I collect Day of the Dead art from Mexico, so it was up my alley and it looked like something fun to share.”

Morice said an art instructor at Lake Land College inspired her do the workshop over the summer. She said she asked the instructor for permission to borrow the idea and Morice said her remake of the workshop turned into a success. She said the Day of the Dead workshop would bring a different dimension to all of the other programs taking place throughout Latin American Heritage month.

The workshop will begin with a brief discussion about Day of the Dead and how it is observed in different areas of Mexico. Morice said in the celebration, people find regional differences in how others observe the day.

In Mexico, the holiday includes special foods prepared throughout the day and some families celebrate by having a picnic in the cemetery for their loved ones. Morice said the workshop brings historical and cultural background to Eastern.

“Day of the Dead is a different way of look at death, it’s a way to remember and honor your loved ones who have passed before you,” Morice said. “This is a way to observe the holiday but also do a fun, hands on project.”

Morice said because she does not know how many people will show up, but because of limited space the workshop only has room for the first 20 participants to show up. The workshop is being held in one of the classrooms in the Tarble Arts Center.

Morice said she has lead workshops at Eastern for 22 years. She said the Tarble Arts Center has had the workshops implemented since they first got on campus in 1982.

T’Nerra Butler can be reached at 581-2812