HALO’s Momento de Arte
Hispanic and Latinx Organizations (HALO) Momento de Arte, Moment of Art in English, created a safe place for Hispanic and Latinx cultural appreciation. Filled with food and art, it was a self-care night as well.
November 24, 2021
With finals, registration and cold weather looming, many students are very stressed and burnt out around campus. HALO wanted to provide a space to help students with all of these stressors by hosting a night full of painting tote bags and cultural food in the form of their event “Momento de Arte.”
Painting supplies provided by HALO for those attending the event.
President and junior Ana Ortiz-Valdez, who is serving her second year as the HALO president, began planning the event last year, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event was postponed until this year. This move allowed for more students to be able to attend the event, and for HALO to provide a wider selection of food and drink for the attendees.
The event was “identity free flow” themed, allowing students to paint what they felt represented them on their individual tote bags. HALO provided the tote, paints, paintbrushes and stamps for people to use throughout the event, along with foods that represent their cultures being served. The food and drinks included red, raisin and green tamales, creme empanadas, arroz con leche and ponche.
Senior Noah Vue (left) and junior Sammy Meverden (right) painting their tote bags and enjoying the food.
Tamales are a mesoamerican dish made of corn-based dough wrapped in a corn husk, the filling can be sweet or savory. Raisin tamales are sweet ones made with pink food dye and raisins. Ponche is a warm fruit punch similar to apple cider but contains more fruit.
Ortiz-Valdez expressed that she felt it was important for the event to be a “relaxing night in the cold,” as well as a way for students to escape from the stress of college.
HALO is meant to be a safe space for all Hispanic and Latinx students across campus, as well as a way to share and teach their culture to the entire Hamline community.
“This year we have a lot of new members and new faces, it’s been really nice to see that,” Ortiz-Valdez said.
Students were able to paint on totes provided by HALO at the event.
Other events that HALO has hosted this year include the “Dia de Los Muertos Ofrenda” in Anderson, which was a collaboration between them, Black Student Collective (BSC), Hmong Student Association (HSA) and Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC). Along with a movie night where they watched “The 33.”
This was the first year that HALO had their Dia de Los Muertos Ofrenda as a collaboration, and Ortiz-Valdez was really excited to see how other organizations took the idea of the holiday to honor people. She hopes that collaborations such as these can occur again in the future.
Anyone and everyone are welcomed at HALO, for more info about them and their events check out HALO’s Instagram @halo_hamline or their Presence page.