DENVER — Five Coloradans were killed in a mass shooting when a man opened fire in Denver and Lakewood in December of 2021.
One of those victims was Alicia Cardenas, who owned a tattoo parlor on Broadway. Cardenas is one of the women being honored in a special exhibit at the History Colorado Center.
The Return of the Corn Mother's Exhibit started about 20 years ago. The multi-generational/multi-cultural award-winning project is a celebration of women whose lives and work embody the spirit of the “Corn Mother,” featuring a photographic exhibition and an anthology of 70 women collected over the past 15 years.
According to Renee Fajardo, who is the exhibit's curator, these are all women who are making a difference in their communities and make sure their legacy lives on when they're gone.
"Since the induction of the 70 women, eight of them have passed," said Fajardo.
This year, a Día de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead altar, is set up at the museum to honor the eight fallen corn mothers, including Cardenas.
She is remembered by her friends as an iconic tattoo artist and muralist, who was a supporter of indigenous and LGBT rights.
Cardenas was gunned down along with four others in a mass shooting on Dec. 27, 2021. Prior to her death she had been selected as a 2022 Corn Mother and was excited to be included.
"Alicia had really wanted to be part of this project; she was young, she was always like, 'I want to be a corn mother.' And so finally, when we got to 2022, when there was a call out, and she got nominated," Fajardo said.
Fajardo is also the Chair of the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council and coordinator of the 'Journey Through our Heritage' Program at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
"She was definitely just a really good candidate and so, so supportive of women and gay rights and just such a cultural icon of just human rights and just a beautiful human being. But when she was murdered, it was a great blow to us, to the whole community. And to honor her, we wanted to make sure that she was still part of this project," added Fajardo.
Fajardo was also a friend of Cardena's. She said they did not get an opportunity to take her picture for the exhibit display before her death. That's when they called Cardena's mentor, Emanuel Martinez, and asked him to paint a portrait of Cardenas.
"I was honored to be asked and I felt that I would do something that reflected the kind of spirit she had," said Martinez.
Martinez had known Cardenas and her family for years. He said he was proud to be a part of helping her be recognized.
"She just touched everybody that knew her, she gave a lot of herself to the community," he said.
The exhibit will run through September of 2023 at the History Colorado Center, located at 1200 North Broadway in Denver.
