With Halloween around the corner, most students are searching for something unique to wear for costumes this year. Look no further than the Tarble Arts Center.

Friday, the center opened a Haitian Carnival Art Gallery that may give students good Halloween ideas.

The Haitian Carnival Art Gallery is filled with multicolored masks and statues made from paper mache.

The masks are used during pre-Lenten parties in Haiti’s version of Mardi Gras. During the week before Lent, there are huge street parties in Haiti. Masks like the ones on display at the Tarble Arts Center can be seen during that entire week. However, they are most prevalent on “Fat Tuesday”.

Kit Morice, curator of education, said that the masks represent tricksters of some sort and they all culminate on Fat Tuesday. Most of the masks on display have never actually been used during the huge street parties in Haiti.

The festivals that take place in the week before Lent have been a tradition for years. However, the masks on display only have been around since the mid-20th century.

Artists including George Marshall and Michel Sinvil will have masks on display at Tarble. Marshall is from Jacmel, Haiti, which is an area known for paper mache artists, Morice said.

The Tarble Arts Center is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Haitian Carnival Art Gallery will be on display until November 24.