Rad to the bone
LOREN BENOIT/Press Emma Ford, left, and Helenna O’Brien paint the arms of a skeleton Thursday afternoon at an Emerge art workshop. The skeletons will be on display at the Day of the Dead Fiesta held at the Human Rights Education Institute at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Helenna O’Brien, 14, paints the ribs of a skeleton during a workshop held at Emerge on last Thursday. Students who attended the three workshops learned sculpting techniques and paint layering. The skeletons will be on display at the Day of the Dead Fiesta on Thursday at the Human Rights Education Institute.
LOREN BENOIT/PressEthan Stein paints the skull of a newspaper skeleton at a workshop last Thursday at Emerge.
LOREN BENOIT/PressHeaven Schumacher paints the ribs of her newspaper skeleton during an art workshop at Emerge last Thursday. Students who attended the three workshops will display their artwork at the Day of the Dead Fiesta on Thursday at the Human Rights Education Institute.
COEUR d’ALENE — Make no bones about it: Kjelsty Hanson's skeletal sculpture students are a head — and a ribcage — above the rest.
"It’s been really fun," Lake City High School freshman Helenna O’Brien said Friday. "I wasn’t expecting them to be this life-sized thing when I came, so it was really cool. I didn’t know I was going to be able to wear it. That’s a unique part of it."
Four teens have created larger-than-life skeletal puppets that they'll showcase at Emerge's third annual Day of the Dead Fiesta at the Human Rights Education Institute on the last day of the Mexican Dia de los Muertos celebration.
"We've had a partnership with HREI for the past six weeks for HREI’s Hispanic Cultural Awareness Month," said Emerge executive director Jeni Hegsted. "This class was to explore Spanish and Latin culture."
During the multi-day workshop at Emerge, an art gallery and workspace in downtown Coeur d'Alene, Hanson showed the students how to create the skeletal puppets out of tomato cages, cardboard, newspaper and milk jugs.
"They’ve all been let loose so they all have they all have their own creative license," said Hanson, who has extensive artistic experience with masks and puppets. "It’s been really cool."
The puppets' tomato-cage frames will rest on the students' shoulders, adding about 3 feet of height, while the long, gangly arms will have dowels attached for theatrics.
“They’ll be able to move them, and they’ll be able to do the Macarena," Hanson said.
Coeur d'Alene High School sophomore Heaven Schumacher carefully examined her skeleton before she dipped her paintbrush to add more white to the ribs. She said she was introduced to Day of the Dead thanks to a teacher she had in middle school.
"I always found it interesting to look at holidays from different countries and civilizations,” she said. "Sometimes they’re better than the ones you grow up with."
The Day of the Dead Fiesta begins Thursday at 6 p.m. It will feature Latin-inspired cuisine from nine local chefs, live art in the making, live performances and more. Tickets are $55 per person or $100 for two.
Info: www.emergecda.com