Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), celebrated each fall throughout Latin America and especially in Mexico, is a joyous remembrance of family members and loved ones who have passed over the last year. The holiday, which traditionally takes place on November 1 and 2, features a wide range of activities; cemeteries are cleaned and decorated, special food and candies are cooked, and home altars are designed with offerings to the dead.

The Day of the Dead is a popular fixture in the North Bay, with traditional altar decorations and parties popping up in Sonoma and Napa County throughout October and leading up to the holiday in November. For more than two decades, the Museum of Sonoma County in downtown Santa Rosa has marked the occasion with its annual “Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)” exhibition. This year, in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, the museum is moving the exhibition outdoors for the the first time ever, presenting the artistic and historical event in the Sculpture Garden from October 22 to November 8.

The outdoor exhibition adapts to the safety and health protocols that the Museum of Sonoma County is committed to following, and the outdoor setting will also parallel the many Day of the Dead observances that take place in Mexican cemeteries and in public community spaces. The exhibit will feature altars and artwork designed and created by acclaimed artists such as Liz Camino-Byers, Scott Daniel Braun, Peter Perez, Mario Uribe, and Martín Zúñigain addition to contributions from community participants.

“The event has been taken back to its original roots and the celebration will be more traditional than ever,” says artist Peter Perez.

While the exhibition includes traditional elements, the altars and artworks created each year often reflect current themes, and this year is no exception. Perez’s installation will include an 8-foot tall mask (pictured), with layers of imagery and meaning, a statement about the current COVID-19 pandemic and a tribute to those who have lost their lives to the virus.

Other artwork on display in the outdoor garden includes Mario Uribe’s existing “Peace Tree” sculpture that Uribe has incorporated into his new altar design. Uribe created “Peace Tree” in 2013 through a collaborative project with students from South Korea and Elsie Allen High School, and the work draws comparisons between gang conflicts in Northern California with the Demilitarized Zone in Korea.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has brought added meaning to everything we do, especially this day,” Uribe says. “Using my ‘Peace Tree’ sculpture as a site for this altar is very appropriate; it was created originally as a collaborative prayer between young people of diverse backgrounds trying to overcome injustice and inequality. In the past, I have created altars that honor specific people whose lives have touched me significantly, Andy Lopez is one of them. This altar is interactive, and people can come and add to it if they feel so moved – out of support and respect for his memory, and as an added prayer for justice and peace.”

In partnership with the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County, the “Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)” exhibit also includes handouts for at-home activities such as making paper monarch butterflies and candles. These at-home creations are welcome to be brought to the Museum of Sonoma County to be hung in the Sculpture Garden or placed on the community altar. The exhibit also displays special works made in past years by the museum’s Youth+Art students.

This year, artists of all ages are encouraged to submit memory portraits to the exhibit, which will be displayed on the museum’s website. Visitors are also invited to participate in the exhibition by contributing miniature altars in a box. The altars can contain copies of photos, traditional offerings such as flowers, LED lights, and other traditional items that contributors are willing to part with or can be exposed to the outdoor environment. Get details on how to submit portraits or altars online.

The Museum of Sonoma County presents “Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)” from Thursday, Oct. 22 to Sunday, Nov. 8. Regular hours, 10am to 1pm; Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 includes evening hours; 4pm to 7pm. 425 Seventh St., Santa Rosa. 707.579.1500. Museumsc.org.

West Marin world music artist Jai Uttal–best known for his heartfelt renditions and upbeat adaptations of the classic Indian call-and-response chanting practice called Kirtan–has not let the Covid-19 pandemic or North Bay wildfires slow him down in 2020.

In fact, Uttal–who has released more than 20 albums that blend elements of reggae, jazz, Indian, samba and rock ’n’ roll–has been busier than ever making music, running virtual Kirtan music camps and performing virtual concerts over Zoom.

Uttal’s 2020 musical output includes his ambient instrumental album, Gauri’s Lullaby, released this past May. This summer, Uttal unveiled a new single, “Behind the Walls,” that addresses the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak at San Quentin State Prison, where Uttal has worked with inmates as part of an interfaith program. Now, Uttal is releasing another new single, “Time and Again,” the first single release from his next album, Songs of the Mystics, which will be out next year.

“Time and Again” was composed by Uttal and his wife Nubia Teixeira, based on a song of the 16th-century Indian Bhakti poetess, Mirabai. On his website, Uttal explains that the details of Mirabai’s life are “intertwined with legends, miracles and mystery.” Her journey began as a princess of a wealthy Rajasthani Kingdom, though she left the palace and wandered through India as a holy person, writing hundreds of songs along the way. Today, Mirabai is revered throughout India as a folk hero and a Bhakti saint.

Uttal’s upcoming Songs of the Mystics album will include re-imaginings of songs and poems by many of the Bhakti saints, and Uttal was compelled to release this single first.

“I decided to release this song now because it seems that at this moment in history, more than ever, we are being called upon to act as well as to pray, each in our own way, that spirit will come and lift the mountain of chaos and division and divisiveness and pain from the world so that we can all breathe and our hearts can freely love once again,” Uttal says in a statement.

Uttal’s entire recording process has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic, though he has adapted to social distancing to make his music and this recording uses musical elements from various sources.

“The lovely background voices by the Pagan Love Choir were from a live concert I did of this song in February, which was multi-tracked. The accordion was recorded two years ago over a guitar demo I had at the time of the song. The rest of it was produced in Ben Leinbach‘s little studio that is now divided by huge plexiglass walls. Awkward, but we got the job done. I couldn’t let the pandemic squash creativity. Creativity is medicine,” Uttal says.

In addition to Covid-19, Uttal has musically adapted in the face of recent wildfires in West Marin and throughout the North Bay.

“2020 has, indeed, been a year full of challenges, but it has also been a year of deep healing, personal growth and more intimate family interaction,” Uttal says. “It’s also been a time of deep connecting with my extended family and greater Bhakti community. I’ve been doing weekly live stream concerts and Kirtans, that have been a great point of focus for myself in terms of preparing and creating new songs and practicing my older songs, as well as bringing our extended Bhakti family and community together over Zoom.”

Uttal’s next Zoom concert is an online Kirtan concert on Friday, Oct. 23 at 4pm.

“These ancient chants contain a transformative power and healing energy,” Uttal says of Kirtan. “By singing these prayers we join a stream of consciousness and devotion that has been flowing for centuries.”

Listen to “Time and Again” and register for Uttal’s online concerts at Jaiuttal.com.