Jessica Oliva

My Altar for My Grandpa

I wanted my project to be focused on my grandpa, Jesus Serrano. He meant a lot to me and he continues to be a source of inspiration for me every single day. I wanted my altar to focus on his likes and interests but also wanted it to be colorful and have some artistic twists involved as well. The very center of the altar is definitely the focal point. Here is where we see the picture of my grandfather accompanied by a cross, rosary, his favorite drink Diet Coke, and a molcajete with chili’s in it. The purpose of involving the crosses and rosary is to pay homage to my grandpa’s religious faith. He was a devout catholic and he and my grandma hold religion very dear to their hearts. My grandma tells me stories about how they went to religious counseling to help with their marriage hardships, as well as how religion helped my grandpa stop drinking and live a sober life for decades. While I’m not a religious person in the slightest, I can respect his beliefs and wanted to incorporate that because it was a huge part of his life. The chili peppers are there not just for him, but because I have a connection with them as well and it's all because of him. I absolutely love spicy food, and so did my grandpa. He’s the whole reason why I am addicted to it the way I am. My mother tells me stories about how he would spoon feed my salsa as a baby. My mom and grandma would get so mad! But I apparently loved it. I also put the chilis in a molcajete because my grandpa used to make the best salsa.

The left side of the altar has another picture of my grandpa. Here, he is looking out towards the ocean. It's a candid picture that my aunt took a few years ago. He used to love to go to the beach and to just breathe in the sea air. On this side I also added his favorite A’s t shirt. He was a huge Oakland A’s fan! I have such fond memories of being at my grandparents house and having the A’s game in the background with my grandpa cheering or booing depending on how the game was going. He also always wore an A’s baseball cap. He was a die hard sports fan and it was something he enjoyed greatly. Lastly, I added the dried roses that my mom took from my grandpa’s funeral. She took three from that day and dried them herself. I felt that adding these to my altar would be very personal, and, in a way, have a literal part of him on his own altar. The right side of the altar is just for artistic flare. I did this purposely because I knew how much my grandpa supported me and my creativity. He would have loved seeing this and would have been so proud. I think about him everyday and he truly inspires me to keep going; to work hard in order to achieve my goals.