SAN ANTONIO – Labor rights icon Emma Tenayuca is being honored and remembered during Dia De Los Muertos with a unique altar at the San Antonio Museum of Art.
SAMA unveiled the ofrenda on Tuesday to celebrate Tenayuca’s civil rights accomplishments. The ofrenda is filled with pictures and stories of Tenayuca and showcases the force she was behind one of the largest labor strikes in San Antonio and Texas history.
“She was a major community organizer and leader here in San Antonio,” said Lana Meador, SAMA Associate Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art. “She helped lead the 1938 Pecan Shellers Strike and that advocated for better working conditions and higher wages for a largely Latina labor force.”
The ofrenda was designed by renowned artist and cultural critic Amalia Mesa-Bains.
“Her work is really rooted in the tradition of altars and ofrenda of honoring one’s loved ones and in Chicana history,” said Meador.
The interactive ofrenda invites people to join the celebration of Tenayuca’s life by sharing their own memories of loved ones in a unique way.
“Visitors can add names of their loved ones to the ofrenda and also acknowledge and honor their labor on those pieces of paper, they are pecan leaves that can be added,” said Meador.
The pecan leaves are a reminder of Tenayuca’s contributions for workers rights and a legacy that connects the past with the present, what Dia De Los Muertos represents.
“This is about seeing people from our community coming together and being excited about what we’re doing, inspired by the art we have, and also involved in the community and honoring someone like Emma Tenayuca,” said Meador. The ofrenda will be on view in the Great Hall through Jan. 12, 2025.