Salem = Art + Culture + More

SALEM, MA, July 10, 2018 – It was May of 2010 when I first landed into Logan Airport; with an orange shirt with white stripes and the smile of uncertainty as my luggage. I missed something but did not know what. Maybe it was my passion for the mysterious or my 3 years of architectural education which were mostly based on abstract ideas rooted in modern Art.

Surely the feeling of missing something vanished once I got my first job in the States and was bombarded by a culture unlike any other. It was on Halloween night when my Wendy’s job in Salem taught me that this place was one to stay for me. The colorful customs, the rich diversity and my regular and peculiar visitors at this fast food place made me feel at Home. I did not know that I somehow could contribute, after all I was just making burgers and serving fries. However, 8 years later I guess something stuck. My passion for this place is unlike any.

When wondering about where our design studio had to be location, the answer was obvious; Salem MA. Now I can connect the dots. I can see how my work is indeed rooted in this place where it belongs. When going for a run, I end up walking. When walking I end up studying and absorbing years of history in a minute that feels like hours. I guess even passing my architectural exams is owed to this place. Here you find all kinds of historic structures from a house with Seven Gables, to a statue that most think is a witch when indeed is our first Mayor.

This is the moment when seeing El Punto Art Museum makes me cry of joy and realize that it is time to give back. I cannot draw a line or design a sculpture without thinking of the many faces I have seen over the years in this place. This is why we at Flow have taken the steps to contribute to a much bigger movement. Salem really is Art and Culture. But I think Salem is much more. I could not make a building that would do this place some justice but rather a sculptural piece that can at least represent the diversity, the colorfulness, the sound and the life of this place.