all are invited to celebrate Day of the Dead with McLaughlin-Hills Gallery

Under an arch of marigolds, there’s an altar to ancestors in preparation for Day of the Dead, just like Mexican tradition—except this one is in Portsmouth.

That, and the flowers are artificial. But the sentiment is all real.

McLaughlin-Hills Gallery invites the community to join the celebration locally by adding their memories, whether written, spoken or sung, or with photographs, food or any object that serves as a reminder of a loved one.

Day of the Dead takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 1 and 2, in connection with the Catholic commemoration of of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, and the gallery will be open after hours both days.

Gallery owner Catherine McLaughlin-Hills said spirits of the deceased are thought to return on these days and visit the homes of their relatives.

In Mexico and elsewhere, people assemble elaborate altars to welcome and remember the dead with flowers, candles and copal, water and mezcal, and favorite foods like molé and sweet bread, “anything that reminds you of that person’s essence,” McLaughlin-Hills said.

Notes have been strung, along with banners of colorful paper flags, in memory of the dead, from grandfathers to a crab named Pincher.

There are also many skull replicas to symbolize death and rebirth. McLaughlin-Hills said the skulls remind her that in death, we are all without skin and other identifiers.

“We are all down to the bone and it’s such a profound equalizer,” she said.

Death is surrounded by fear and darkness and considered permanent in American culture, said McLaughlin-Hills, but this celebration gives people the option of welcoming back their family every year in a conscious, respectful way.

The frightening costumes of Halloween were originally intended to scare off the dead, she said, the opposite of the intention of Day of the Dead.

Spirits of children come at midnight on Nov. 1 to spend the day with their families, followed later by adult spirits. Families throw parties for their dead in cemeteries, prepare feasts, and create decorative shrines in their homes.

“This is not at all a scary thing. It’s a celebration of life more than death, but it celebrates death as a part of life,” she said.

She said she found “tremendous comfort” in the custom after the loss of her father and it helped her heal. The chess pieces on the altar are for him.

“It brings me joy in what otherwise is just surrounded by sadness,” she said.

The gallery focuses on indigenous art from Oaxaca, Mexico, and McLaughlin-Hills said she sees the respect for the dead come through in the artwork. The current exhibition highlights fine art and crafts representing Día de Los Muertos.

She said there’s also a comfort in knowing people will think of you for generations to come, and it’s another reason to connect with these people and help shape how you will be remembered.

She hopes the community will perceive the altar as a gift from another culture.

“It is for all of us,” she said.

The observance opened in conjunction with October’s Art ’Round Town event and the shrine has been gradually compiling more remembrances.

Flowers represent the impermanence of life and the scent attracts the spirits; candles represent light, faith and hope and guide the spirits; copal is incense made from tree resin, meant to clear away bad spirits; water represents the source of life and quenches the thirst of the dead; and their favorite foods are there to feed them. The arch connects the passage between life and death.

The McLaughlin-Hills Gallery is at 110 State St., Portsmouth, 603-319-8306.