![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/KimberlyBernal_ProvidedbyBungieoArt.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMixed media artist Kimberly Bernal, pictured painting a mural, is among
\nthe nearly 30 artists featured in \u201cMi Familia.”\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMixed media artist Kimberly Bernal, pictured painting a mural, is among
\nthe nearly 30 artists featured in \u201cMi Familia.”\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Photo provided by
Bungieo Art<\/p>\n
Curators Ariel Esquivel and Junanne Peck have made the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library<\/a> the setting for \u201cMi Familia: D\u00eda de los Muertos,\u201d a community-centered group exhibition where remembrance, healing and cultural tradition meet contemporary art. Running now through Nov. 1 on the library\u2019s fourth floor, \u201cMi Familia\u201d gathers works from nearly 30 artists specializing in painting, printmaking, photography, mixed media, fiber art and sculpture.<\/p>\n At the heart of the exhibition sits Esquivel\u2019s interactive community ofrenda, an altar that continually honors someone new. Visitors are invited to add to it: a photograph of someone loved and lost, a handwritten letter or any other tribute. Over the run of the show, the altar grows the way memory grows, layer upon layer. The genius of the piece is that it dissolves the wall between viewer and artwork.<\/p>\n Nearly 30 voices, one shared table<\/p>\n Sign up for the Arts & Culture newsletter to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox<\/p>\n THANK YOU!<\/p>\n You’re all set.<\/p>\n CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n The artists arrive, each carrying their own history, and their stories run through the veins of the exhibition. Among the almost 30 voices represented are local multidisciplinary artists Xeomara Ortiz Montes<\/a>, Laura Carrasco<\/a> and Angeles Garcia Aguilar<\/a>, each bringing their own cultural perspective and vision of familal rememberance.<\/p>\n DFW mixed media artist Kimberly Bernal<\/a> frames her practice as an act of devotion. <\/p>\n \u201cMy work comes from a place of love and remembrance,\u201d she says. \u201cEven when someone is no longer here, the love we have for them never goes away. We remember, we honor and we carry that love with us, always.\u201d<\/p>\n Fort Worth painter and tattoo artist Danica Benitez, known to many as Dani B<\/a>, is drawn to how the holiday brings people together. <\/p>\n \u201cThe art, the food, the music, the love, is so strong like our people,\u201d she tells us. Her contribution honors an icon who was controversial in life and immortal in memory: Frida Kahlo.<\/p>\n Dallas visual artist Bar\u00fa<\/a>, also known as Braulio Laz\u00f3n Conde, pushes the tradition into sharper territory. His woodcut triptych, \u201cThe Migrant\u2019s Ofrenda,\u201d unfolds across three panels: \u201cConsumed by the Root,\u201d \u201cWater\u2019s Sacrifice\u201d and \u201cThe Beast\u2019s Line.\u201d For Bar\u00fa, the altar is \u201ca living platform to raise awareness and honor our community\u2019s endurance, from the heavy realities carried across borders to the deep roots anchored in this soil.\u201d His work reclaims the ofrenda as an active site of critique and memory around migration and displacement, proving the form can mourn and challenge at once.<\/p>\n The ofrenda that belongs to everyone <\/p>\n For co-curator Peck, D\u00eda de los Muertos was a revelation that arrived in adolescence.<\/p>\n \u201cGrowing up in a white culture, all we ever did was visit our relatives and friends\u2019 graves,\u201d she recalls. <\/p>\n A move to New Mexico in middle school changed everything.<\/p>\n \u201c[I learned] to celebrate death and passing with respect and joy,\u201d Peck says. This year, her work honors her little brother Bevo, who died of cancer at just six years old. \u201cD\u00eda de los Muertos and Mexican culture has given me so much,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n A curatorial approach built on trust<\/p>\n If the names Esquivel and Peck sound familiar, they should. Earlier this year, they curated a Chicano\u00a0exhibition at Art on Main<\/a>\u00a0that brought culture, vibrant color, and lowriders to the East Dallas gallery. The two return to collab by celebrating their culture and the artists who continue to preserve it. That is the quiet through-line of their partnership: the spotlight remains on the artists, the community and the people who are no longer here to speak for themselves.<\/p>\n Most group shows begin with a call for entries, a submission portal and a spreadsheet. \u201cMi Familia\u201d began more informally. For this exhibition, Esquivel skipped the usual maze of applications and email chains, instead bringing artists together through a mix of personal invitations and an open-ended note on Instagram that prompted others to reach out.\u00a0<\/p>\n The result is a room assembled by instinct and relationship rather than bureaucracy. Each artist was given the freedom to bring work that honors a memory, a loved one or their own understanding of D\u00eda de los Muertos. No prompts. No prescriptions. Just trust.<\/p>\n That trust has grown into something the curators didn\u2019t fully plan for. The participating artists now share a group chat that hums daily with progress photos, encouragement, questions and the ordinary tenderness of people building something together. They cheer each other on. They keep one another going. What started as a checklist of names has become, fittingly, a family.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all family. We\u2019re all connected. We\u2019re all here together,\u201d Esquivel says.<\/p>\n She envisions the show as a place where people can gather, connect, learn, heal, grieve and celebrate life all at once, ensuring that those who have passed are honored rather than forgotten. It\u2019s a generous premise, and \u201cMi Familia\u201d delivers on it at scale.<\/p>\n \u201cMi Familia: D\u00eda de los Muertos\u201d is on view at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library (1515 Young St.). The exhibit is free, viewing hours can be found on the library\u2019s website. <\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Frida_DaniB.jpg\")
Fort Worth painter and tattoo artist Dani B poses with her Frida Kahlo-inspired work that will be featured in \u201cMi Familia.\u201d <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/TheMigrantsOfrenda_Baru_104474.jpeg\")
\u201cThe Migrant\u2019s Ofrenda,\u201d a three-part woodcut triptych by Dallas visual artist Bar\u00fa, is featured in \u201cMi Familia.\u201d<\/p>\n