Salem Murals Tell Immigrant Stories Of 'American Dream'

SALEM, MA — When Emily Kwong thought about how she wanted to depict the "American Dream" for the annual Artist Mural Wall in The Point neighborhood of Salem she thought of her grandfather.

An immigrant from Hong Kong in the 1970s, he built a life for himself and his family in America through hard work that extended well into his 80s when he still took shifts at McDonald’s in Malden.

"He worked himself to the point where he couldn't work anymore," Kwong said.

Kwong's vision of an idyllic house resting on the shoulders of a working-class immigrant is one of 18 murals that now show off different visions of the American Dream and fill the Peabody Street wall as part of the Punto Urban Art Museum's mission to "foster dialogue around the cornerstone principles of the United States."

The Punto museum hopes that the visual combination of art and educational content will create an impactful experience for the contributing artists, the community and visitors of the open-air museum.

Kwong, who grew up in Peabody and now lives in Beverly, was part of the first project in 2018 with this year being her third mural in the annual series.

"It's a little nerve-wracking but it's also really inspiring," the Salem State alumna told Patch of the public project, which artists painted between Sept. 12 and Sept. 18. "You don't know how the people who see you are going to respond. But I really enjoyed it this time.

"In The Point, you have a lot of different people walking around and some people become really interested in it."

She said it was not only nice to share the message of the mural when it was done, but also stir the creativity of some of the neighborhood's younger residents during the painting itself.

"Some kids came up to me and were like: 'Oh my god, that's really cool. Can I do that?'"

Kwong said other muralists let kids from the neighborhood even help with the painting.

"I feel like it's really rewarding," she said. "My concept is to create something that's nice to look at and where you can also tell a message through it."

The wall contains 27 8-by-8 feet panels, 18 of which will be used to display murals of the New England-based artists. The remaining nine panels include selected quotes and relevant educational information in English and Spanish.

Go here for more on the Punto Urban Art Museum and this year's Artist Mural Wall.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)