photo: Anthony Novelli
While the annual All Souls Procession (ASP) may be one of the greatest homegrown events anywhere, it is unique in how it draws on so many different elements within the community to make it all work. With tons of amazing performance artists and musicians who contribute greatly, it is the thousands of regular city folk who give the ASP so much of its spirit and spunk.
Although mask making and other arts related workshops have long been a part of the ritual leading up to ASP, it was not until 1996 that these workshops went public, and with that came the explosion of interest and community wide participation. Suddenly, the Day of the Dead was accessible to anyone who wanted to participate - with the open workshops being the major conduit to that.
Charles Swanson has been member of Tucson Puppet Works, the group that presents these workshops, since 1996. He credits Matt Cotton and Dennis 'The Red' Eustice, for bringing the workshops to the next level and involving so many more people.
"Making the workshops public not only forced us to get more organized but it brought in a lot of new ideas that we wouldn't have thought up ourselves," Swanson explained.
The workshops also helped create other events and benefits for the Procession so that even more people might get involved.
How might the ASP be different without the on-going workshops?
"People wouldn't be as apt to join in," says Swanson. "We get all kinds of folks and it is totally inclusive. When they are out on the street, you see the diversity of our neighborhoods and people saying, 'Yeah, I want to do that next year too!'"
Workshops for the All Souls Procession take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings through October from 6-9 p.m. along with workshops every Sunday through October from 1-4 p.m. All workshops are at the Splinter Brothers and Sisters Warehouse, 901. N. 13th Ave. Visit www.AllSoulsProcession.org for more information on the workshops and other events.