Hilarie Coate's works celebrate the Mexican holiday traditions of the Day of the Dead.  As an artisan, educator and pollinator of handcrafts and celebrations, she bridges the boundaries of life and death and of style and culture.

With care and with respect and with an eye to both the history and the future of the holiday, she works in wax, wood, metal, tin, silk, paper, beading and clay in remembrance of los Muertos.

She has taught children’s craft workshops, made parade art for the Grateful Dead, directed the Mendocino Coast Day of the Dead Festival, and was the only American volunteer in props and costumes at the 2017 CDMX Gran Desfile de Dia de los Muertos. 

She studied papier-mâché mask making in Venice, Italy, and Catrinas en cartoneria in Puebla, Mexico and she integrates new international ideas and techniques in the syncretic tradition of the holiday.

Her studio - Peace, Love & Death is located in Fulton Crossing and houses a library of hard to find Muertos art and history in print and on video.

She offers festival support, custom pieces, and individual and group classes.