La Calavera Catrina

La Calavera Catrina is a ready-to-install, bilingual exhibition featuring larger-than-life sculptures of La Catrina, one of the most recognizable figures of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). An elegant female skeleton and an icon of Mexican heritage, La Catrina approaches death not through sadness, but as a colorful celebration of life. Designed primarily for outdoor display, these works by artist Ricardo Soltero explore this rich iconography and feature interpretation written in partnership with Denver’s Mexican Consulate.

Venues with indoor display space can round out the exhibition with wall-hanging monarchs and a butterfly display that invites visitors to share memories in written form.

About the Artist

Born in Nayarit, Mexico, Ricardo Soltero is the set designer for the largest Día de los Muertos celebration in the United States, which takes place annually at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. Both a sculptor and a costume designer, Soltero’s projects include works and design for Semblanza Latinoamericana dance and music festival, Metropolitan Fashion Week, UNICEF’s annual gala and the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, CA.

Exhibition includes:

• Eight 9’ tall fiberglass La Catrina sculptures with mounting hardware for outdoor display, one papier-mâché La Catrina sculpture for indoor display. Checklist available upon request.
• Ready-to-install bilingual (English and Spanish) exhibit signage including intro panel and object labels.
• Optional indoor components: Four papier-mâché wall-mounted monarch butterfly sculptures and bilingual object labels; press-ready digital design files and bilingual interpretive panel for Memory Wall participatory display
• Press kit including sample press release, three high-resolution images for promotional use and accompanying image credits.
• Curator-led guide training available for additional fee.

Exhibition fee:
La Catrina sculptures: $5,000
Monarch butterfly sculptures: $1,000
Memory Wall participatory display: $500

Duration: Variable; 1 month minimum

Running feet: Variable

Installation services available for an additional fee. For more information and booking inquiries, email exhibits@botanicgardens.org.

Traveling schedule and venues:
2025: Lauritzen Gardens (Omaha, NE)
2024: Converse County Library – Glenrock (Glenrock, WY)
2024: Cheyenne Botanical Garden (Cheyenne, WY)
2023: Atlanta Botanical Garden (Gainesville, GA)
2023:Tucson Botanical Gardens (Tucson, AZ)
2022: Naples Botanical Garden (Naples, FL)
2021: Branigan Cultural Center (Las Cruces, NM)
2020: Tucson Botanical Gardens (Tucson, AZ)
2019: Longmont Museum (Longmont, CO)