Paintings, Photography and Día de los Muertos: Popular After-Hours Event Samples Latin Flavors in November

Free First Fridays @ 5 continue at Michigan City's lakefront Lubeznik Center for the Arts at 5 p.m. on November 5 with a festive celebration of Día de los Muertos―the Mexican Day of the Dead, which honors deceased family members and loved ones with food, music, flowers and celebration. dia-de-los-muertos

Visitors to Lubeznik Center's November after-hours event will get an opportunity to help build and decorate an ofrenda (altar) honoring the deceased by adding their own photographs, favorite foods, candles and mementos.

Current exhibits continue the Hispanic theme. Large canvases by artist Oscar Martinez overflow with detail, texture color and contrast, evoking his childhood in Puerto Rico. In the Shadow of Cortés: From Veracruz to Mexico City combines the work of former National Geographic photographer Steve Raymer and historian Kathleen Ann Meyers to provide a view of history through the eyes of people who live along Mexico's Ruta de Cortés.

Celebrate the season with refreshments and opportunities to mix and mingle at Lubeznik Center, and at participating Uptown Arts District First Friday venues from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Admission is free.

The Lubeznik Center is located at 101 W. 2nd St., at the lakefront in Michigan City, IN. Gallery Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10:00am to 5:00pm, Saturday and Sunday from 11:00am to 4:00pm. Galleries are closed on Mondays. For more information please visit www.lubeznikcenter.org or call 219-874-4900. All times are based on Chicago time.