The Red House by Ledania
Sure, the Peabody Essex Museum is a great museum. Expansive in its collections, outreach, and community presence, it plays a big role in the culture of Salem. But did you know there is another museum in Salem, right under our noses—an exciting, free, vibrant museum that represents the diversity of Salem, its people and their art? It’s called El Punto Art Museum, and it’s a 5-minute walk from the center of town, or a 15-minute walk from the Salem Inn. And when you enter it, you’re surrounded by magic.
Wandering among buildings splashed with imagination—vibrant colors, patterns, and images, is to be in a new world. Flowers, faces, animals, feathers—these are murals created by LatinX artists from all over the hispanic world, including several who call Salem home. These murals are to be found in a section of Salem called El Punto—The Point, home to many people from the Caribbean and of Caribbean descent. El Punto is where you will find 90 murals leaping from buildings on the main throughway, Lafayette Street, or calling to you from more hidden, winding alleyways. To find a map of all the murals and take your own self-guided walking tour, click here. Each mural has a QR code for more information.
The Queen of the Block by Mr. Cenz
Untitled By Emily Larson
The Punto Art Museum was conceived in 2015, a combined effort of the North Shore Community Development Coalition and the people of el Punto neighborhood as a way to take down barriers that were unseen but very much there. The idea was to have the public explore a neighborhood that has had the stigma of being home to people of a different race and a lower income level. (The North Shore CDC is a non-profit organization that raises money to provide affordable housing for people in need. They have created over 400 affordable homes in the last 9 years, many of them in El Punto.) The painting began in 2017.
And how exciting it was to watch these accomplished artists from all over the hispanic world come to Salem to execute these murals, driving huge bucket trucks and using thousands of cans of spray paint to make four-storey high paintings. Several of them stayed at the Salem Inn and we were thrilled to have them! Now we are excited to encourage our guests not to miss this opportunity to see some world-class art on El Punto’s stage.
Boogie Bird by Chor Boogie
Untitled by Krave