The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical GardensSan Marino

Laura Aguilar: Day of the Dead

Now showing20 September 2026 – 1 March 2027Ticketed, see website

Photographs by Laura Aguilar made 1984-1992 documenting Dia de los Muertos celebrations in Los Angeles, drawn from her estate.

Book tickets Exhibition website

More in Los Angeles

On now All of November 2026

In 1989, Laura Aguilar built a coffin for the Los Angeles Photography Center's Día de los Muertos party and set it against a painted Mexican mural, like a photo booth. Many portraits here show guests posed inside it, among them the Chicano artists Barbara Carrasco, Harry Gamboa Jr. and Ricardo Valverde.

You walk into the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries and find those portraits beside quieter scenes shot in homes between 1984 and 1992: couples and families in calavera makeup, like the artists Armando Norte and Consuelo Flores in At Home with the Nortes. At the centre is an ofrenda for Aguilar herself, built by her estate's co-trustees from objects tied to her land, family and photography.

Day of the Dead makeup is welcome, costume masks are not, and you can't leave offerings on the altar. Entry is included with general admission ($29 Monday to Thursday, $34 at weekends), reservations are required Friday to Sunday, and the Huntington is closed on Tuesdays.

Look for

The coffin portraits
Look for Carrasco, Gamboa and Valverde posed inside Aguilar's homemade prop coffin, in front of a painted Mexican mural, at the 1989 Photography Center party.
At Home with the Nortes
The artists Armando Norte and Consuelo Flores photographed at home in 1990, in calavera attire and makeup.
The ofrenda for Aguilar
An altar dedicated to the photographer, built by her estate's co-trustees from objects tied to her land, community, family and photography.