The Mexican Fine Arts Museum, in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, is currently exhibiting "The Journey Home" -- a collection of amazing Day of the Dead artwork and altars. The show runs through December 11, 2005.

The exhibit is extremely well done, the artwork touching, impressive, and shocking, and even though I've studied Dia de los Muertos before, I still learned quite a bit. Some of the work is quite traditional, down to the loaves of bread, but a few pieces reflect a more modern expression of the holiday. All of them bring forth questions about your own mortality and what sort of artifacts and anecdotes your friends and family would choose to memorialize you. (I'm hoping my wife can find an old Atari ST for my graveside.)

As a bonus, the center's gift shop has quite a collection of Day of the Dead artwork for your consuming pleasure. Admission to the show is free, so grab some souvenirs or drop a few bucks in the donation box, eh?