Herminia Albarrán Romero is a Mexican-American artist known for her papel picado (Mexican paper cutting) and altar-making. She received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2005, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.

Early life

Born and raised in Tlatlaya,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, Albarrán Romero began learning her skills as a child from her mother. As a young woman she honed her craft with studies at Acatempa in Amatepel.

Artwork

She has been commissioned to create works for several notable institutions, including the

Oakland Museum of California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, and the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. Romero currently resides in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Many of her exhibits focus on Dia de los Muertos celebrations, where she creates altars. She states of her work:

In creating my works for Dia de los Muertos, I am joyful as I senses the near presence of my loved ones. When I create papel picado and paper flowers, I again experience those childhood memories near my beloved mother and grandparents who also worked at these crafts. I feel connected to the love they have for me even in death and this is why I feel such a great joy within me.

Albarrán Romero collaborates as an ''altarista'', or altar maker at Day of the Dead workshops across the United States.

Selected exhibits

* ''Día de los Muertos Honor Altar'' at Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco, CA, October–November 2005 * ''Día de los Muertos Altar'' at New College of California, San Francisco, CA, October–November 2005 * ''Día de los Muertos Altar'' at Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA, Fall 2004 * ''Virgen de Guadalupe Celebration'' at Mission Dolores Basilica: ''Papel picado'' and large paper roses, San Francisco, CA, December 2003 * ''Día de los Muertos Altar'' at Mission Dolores Basilica, San Francisco, CA, 2003 * ''Día de los Muertos Altar and Papel Picado Decorations'' for the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco, CA, 2003

References

External links

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
in San Francisco's Mission District 21st-century Mexican women artists Paper artists Women in craft Year of birth missing (living people) Living people National Heritage Fellowship winners Artists from the State of Mexico Artists from San Francisco American artists of Mexican descent Mexican emigrants to the United States 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists {{US-artist-stub