Update: As of 3:22 p.m. Tuesday, all the available tins have been claimed.

It may still be hot-as-Houston-hell with Halloween-themed parties seeming to be so far into the horizon, but there's one nonprofit that's gearing up for an art fundraiser that has Houston artists and creatives on a do-or-die mad rush to get their hands on a piece of shiny metal.

That would be the artsy throng at Lawndale Art Center, which is thinking about Oct. 25 when the organization will host the 25th Annual Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead exhibition, a party-cum-fundraiser where hundreds of tin retablos or ex-voto devotional works will be available for sale, all to benefit the progressive art presenter.

Three-hundred 8-by-10-inch tin plates, limited to one-per person on a first come, first-serve basis, were released to the general public Tuesday morning, and are available for pick-up until 5 p.m. — or until supplies last.

Every year the event increases in popularity. When CultureMap chatted with programming director Dennis Nance, the commotion was in full swing.

"I think it's because it gives an opportunity for artists, and anyone actually, to have fun with metal in a way they perhaps haven't used metal before," Nance says in explaining why artists so love creating tin retablos for this fundraiser, the largest for Lawndale.

"They can go outside the lines of how the work normally, and it's a really fun way to participate and give back to Lawndale."

The artists are expected to deliver their final creations by Oct. 11. The works have to incorporate the tin plate, be a maximum finished size of 12 by 14 by 6 inches and must be able to hang on a wall. Artists have the option to keep part of the proceeds.

Lawndale officials expect the tins to be depleted by the end of the day.

If you aren't able to get your hands on a retablo tin, don't fret. You can still participate in the many gatherings that surround the exhibition, including lectures, workshops, concerts and one heck of a party. It's the one time where in death, everyone wins.