Arrival of the Charlotte Forten Memorial

SALEM, MA – On behalf of the City of Salem’s Public Art Commission and the Charlotte Forten Memorial Project Advisory Group, Mayor Dominick Pangallo is thrilled to announce the long-awaited arrival of The Moving Spirit of Love, a life-size bronze memorial in honor of Charlotte Forten Grimké, created for our community by artist Ai Qiu Hopen of Humanity Memorial Inc. 

Guided by community input gathered at every phase of the process over the last five years, from naming the park to what shape the memorial should take, the winning design was selected via a robust review process with deep community involvement.  The resulting statue is a true to life representation intended to celebrate and elevate the incredible life and legacy Charlotte Forten Grimké, as well as her time spent in Salem.

Watch a teaser for our documentary on the process created by Steven Foley Media Productions.

“I’m so proud that Salem will soon unveil the sculpture of such a significant figure in our city and out nation’s history,” said Mayor Dominick Pangallo, “Celebrating Charlotte Forten Grimke’s legacy through this public art installation reflects our shared value of education, equity, and the diversity of voices, stories, and lived experiences in our community. Through this exciting moment and lasting monument, we’ll continue to tell the story of Salem and all of its chapters, including that of an important and influential woman who helped shape this community into the great place it is today. Our city must continue to be a leader in elevating Black histories and voices, including through our public spaces and public art.”

The finished work will be installed in Charlotte Forten Park at 289 Derby Street in downtown Salem on October 21, 2024.

A dedication ceremony will be held in the park on Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 1pm with a rain date of Sunday, Nov. 17th.  Charlotte herself will be present to share poems and stories of her time in Salem, courtesy of renowned local theater company History Alive Inc. and actress Samanth Searles. Full schedule of events to be released closer to the event. Sign up for our email list.

Regina Zaragoza Frey, Salem’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and member of the Charlotte Forten Advisory Group stated: “This bronze statue commemorating Charlotte Forten is historic in many ways. It marks Salem’s first statue of a Black woman, celebrating her life, legacy, and the hope she inspires for the future. It is also the first statue in Salem created by a woman of color, artist Ai Qiu, of Asian descent. Her work, Moving Spirit of Love, symbolically embodies hope and justice. Seeing the clay model for the first time was breathtaking, and now witnessing its transformation into a permanent installation of a bronze sculpture is a significant moment in Salem’s journey toward racial equity.”

As an Asian woman of Chinese descent, an immigrant, and a mother passionate about preserving humanity for all children artist and sculpture Ai Qiu Hopen was inspired to create this memorial for the future guided by Charlotte’s vision of light and hope and invites us to consider the following quote:

“The long, dark night of the Past, with all its sorrows and its fears, was forgotten; and for the Future—the eyes of these freed children see no clouds in it. It is full of sunlight, they think, and they trust in it, perfectly” – Charlotte Forten Grimke.

Accompanying the sculpture, some of Charlotte’s writings will also be on display in the park in November via a hand-printed ‘banner’ created by artist Mitchel Ahern.  Ahern is a Lynn-based letterpress printmaker and performing artist, whose work has appeared at the DeCordova Museum, Salem National Park Service Visitor Center, Endicott College, as well as many other venues, galleries and festivals. His piece “Charlotte Forten, Journals 1855 and 1864” is a 128-foot-long horizontal fabric scroll, printed on unbleached twill, using antique wood type on an 1830 Acorn Iron Hand Press at the Museum of Printing in Haverhill, MA. The quotes he chose to highlight are from Charlotte Forten’s Journals and showcase her work both as an abolitionist and as a teacher.

Learn more about Lead Artist Ai Qiu Hopen their work.  An image of Hopen working on 'Moving Spirit of Love’ monument attached.

Charlotte Forten Memorial Project Background:

Awarded artist was selected through a multi-round competitive process, where ultimately four talented artists were invited as semi-finalists to create original design proposals for the commission. Community members were invited to vote and comment on the semi-finalists’ proposals to guide selection decisions. Submission at all stages were reviewed by representatives from the project’s Advisory Group and Selection Committee, which is comprised of representation from artists, nonprofits, city departments, and Salem State University.

This project emerged after the site was redeveloped in 2017 and dedicated as Charlotte Forten Park in 2019. After years of engagement efforts around the park and proposals for a permanent memorial, a project advisory formed in fall of 2022 to assist with drafting the Call for Artists, which was released in June 2023, and 18 artists and artists teams responded to the Call for Artists. The Call for Artists was distributed locally and nationally, with intentional targeted outreach to artists identifying as female and artists of color.

To learn more about Charlotte Forten Grimke, this exciting initiative, and the awarded project, please visit our project website.

This project is made possible with generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Metropolitan Area Planning Council, New England Foundation for the Arts, Essex County Community Foundation, Community Development Block Grant Program, ARPA Lost Revenue, and the City of Salem.

About the Documentary & Steven Foley Media Productions:

The documentary is being produced and directed by local video producer and Salem State Alumni Steven Foley, of Steven Foley Media Productions, with support from Joe Garfi & Max Reid of Harvard Street Productions. Foley has this to say about the project: “The docu team and I are beyond honored to be able to bring forth and present this incredible story of a woman who all of us in this nation and on the North Shore especially should have grown up learning about. Charlotte Forten’s story is a uniquely vibrant thread in the grand tapestry of the abolitionist movement spanning the Antebellum and Reconstruction eras of US history, and much of that thread is woven through Salem’s own history.

The core theme of this mini-documentary project is one of people recognizing an injustice happening within their community, and come hell or high water, they will see it rectified. This of course applies to Charlotte’s story, but it also applies to Salem in this memorial effort between its city officials and its citizens collectively. And The Moving Spirit of Love aims to shine a light on both.” 

About the Salem Public Art Commission

The Salem Public Art Commission (PAC) is committed to enriching and enlivening the urban environment through showcasing and commissioning innovative and transformative works of art in all media and modalities. With a focus on local artists, especially those historically underrepresented, and a global perspective of the art scene, PAC seeks to foster greater community awareness of and interaction with the arts, enhance the scope of Salem’s public art collection, and celebrate diversity in all its forms. Learn more.  Follow us on FB & Instagram @SalemArtsCulture.