{"id":9691,"date":"2022-10-14T15:50:23","date_gmt":"2022-10-14T19:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lammuseum.wfu.edu\/?p=9691"},"modified":"2024-06-20T11:04:37","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T15:04:37","slug":"hispanic-heritage-month-create-a-nicho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lammuseum.wfu.edu\/2022\/10\/hispanic-heritage-month-create-a-nicho\/","title":{"rendered":"Hispanic Heritage Month: Create a Nicho"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dating back to the Spanish Colonial period, nichos\u00a0are a type of folk art popular throughout Central and South America. They began as an adaptation of the Roman Catholic ‘retablo’, which is a painting of a patron saint on wood or tin. In different places, nichos may be called by a local name or still called a retablo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A nicho box, or simply nicho, is\u00a0a three-dimensional display box, like a shadow box. Traditionally, they combined elements from\u00a0Roman Catholicism,\u00a0mestizo\u00a0spirituality, and popular culture. Today, nichos can be created as shrines to important people or loved ones or used for protection or devotion.\u00a0 They can display political themes, scenes of everyday life, or images of saints or other deities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nichos can be made and displayed at any time of the year. However, many people include nichos as part of their Day of the Dead decorations and on ofrendas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This Day of the Dead nicho is part of the Lam Museum’s collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Each nicho has a key object or central figure that the nicho is based on. They are made with easily purchased, readily available, or household material. The display box used to create a nicho can be made of common materials like wood, tin, glass, cardboard, or even cigar boxes. Colorful materials like pictures, images from magazines, stickers, fabrics, paints, papers, flowers, jewelry, toys, glitter, sequins, wood, and tin pieces can be used to decorate nichos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each nicho is unique and special because it is filled with items that are special to the person who creates it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s make a nicho!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You will need:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n