The Spirit of Día de los Muertos – West High School | McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture

Group Bio

West High school is the most multi-cultural high school in Knoxville. To celebrate the unity of our cultures, our motto is “We are OneWest.”

Our strength, beauty, and light come from our blend of cultures. To honor this way of being, our ofrenda is simultaneously a celebration of light and the beauty of life after death and honoring those from many cultures who have dedicated their lives to bringing unity to humanity.

The Tree of Light celebrates what makes West High School what it is… honoring one another and what makes us ONE. We also honor the victims of the Uvalde school shooting and hope to show that we are all more alike than we are different and for all of us, there is light within death. We are OneWest.

West High School es la escuela con mas influencias de diferentes nacionalidades y culturas. Nuestra lema es “We are OneWest,” para enseñar unidad de todos los culturas de los estudiantes. Nuestra fuerza, belleza, y luz de vida viene de una mezcla de todos los culturas.

The West High National Art Honor Society and West High Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica are honor societies which are comprised of students who have a desire to share their passion for the arts and Spanish culture and language. West High School is proud of our multiculturalism and these two groups are a small example of the exemplary students who are the heart of West High School.

What inspired you all to create this installation?

West High’s motto is “We are OneWest” and in celebration of this way of being, the inspiration behind the West High Día De Los Muertos Ofrenda installation is to simultaneously bring a sense of celebration and light to honoring those we’ve lost while honoring the lives of those who dedicated their lives to bringing unity to humanity.

We conceptualized our idea after being inspired by idea of a tree being symbolic of life and rebirth, hence, our TREE of LIGHT. We wanted to show the beauty and light of celebrating lives well-lived to overpower the darkness of death.

We also honor the victims of the Uvalde school shooting and hope to show that we are all ONE and are more alike than we are different. We are OneWest.