Eva Castellanoz
 Eva Castellanoz is a master artist and community leader who has received national recognition for her corona making skills. Coronas (crowns) are wax-dipped paper flowers arranged in realistic-looking bouquets. They are traditionally made for special events in a Mexican girl or woman’s life, such as quineceañeras (a coming-of-age celebration held on a girl’s fifteenth birthday) and weddings. Eva learned to make these coronas as a young woman in Mexico, before she moved to Nyssa in eastern Oregon over 20 years ago. She is also a curandera, or traditional healer, an art form which has been passed down through her family for generations. She has worked extensively with young people, especially at-risk youth in the Ontario area.
Area: Statewide Mexican Coronas (Wax-Dipped Paper Flowers) Students will learn to make coronas, a process that involves shaping tissue paper into flowers, binding it with floral wire and tape, then dipping repeatedly into melted wax*. The wax-dipped paper flowers can then be shaped into crowns and bouquets. Students will also learn about the role of coronas in Mexican and Mexican-American culture. *The wax is about 125 degrees, hot enough to be melted, but not hot enough to cause burns. This project has been successful even with very young children. CONTENT STANDARD CONNECTIONS: Arts: Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Historical and Cultural Perspectives, Create, Present, Perform, Social Sciences: World History; Geography Mathematics: Geometry, Calculations and Estimations, Measurement |