Dark Thoughts of the Ladies of Salem
Sponsor: Palmer Cover Yacht Club
Artist: John Devine
Lady Slocum
I watched it sink with all hands.
In my dark love story “Carving Grace,” figureheads wander the streets at night in pursuit of happiness—yours.
In honor of its publication in NEHW Press’ Wicked Creatures this month (coming soon!), I’m celebrating figureheads for 2021 Poe Season!
First up: a look at the Ladies of Salem.
Nathan and I took our very first trip to Salem, Massachusetts, this August. We did some tourist kitsch, some history, and some art. But art is everywhere in Salem if you care to look, and I was thrilled to discover their downtown collection of figureheads called The Ladies of Salem.
This public art exhibit, officially titled The Lady of Salem Maritime Public Art Celebration, is displayed throughout the downtown (I don’t know if it’s only at certain times of year) and commemorates the city’s original position as a prominent cultural center—things from all over the world arrived in New England through Salem’s port. https://www.salem.org/listing/lady-salem-maritime-public-art-celebration/.
Strangely, there isn’t a whole lot of information out there on the Ladies, because right away, I was hoping there’d be a book or something that talked about each one, or maybe even gave each a back story (apparently, there was a brochure floating around, but we weren’t able to get our hands on one).
But lack of information stimulates the imagination. I took photos of as many as we spotted, and thought if, they were figureheads in my story, what would each be thinking?
The ladies don’t have names (in just about all cases); I made them up. I’ve done my best to get the names of the sponsor and artist for each one, but in a couple of cases, the plaques were illegible due to damage.
Anyway, look for the Ladies to pop up here all month long!
Posted on October 5, 2021, in Deep Thoughts & Fun Stuff, Ladies of Salem and tagged Carving Grace, figureheads, horror anthologies with scary creatures, Lady of Salem Maritime Public Art Celebration, New England Horror Writers anthologies, Salem Beautification Committee, Salem Massachusetts art exhibits, The Ladies of Salem, Wicked Creatures. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Oh, I hope “Lady Slocum” didn’t really watch a ship sink with all hands. How horrifying. It sounds like a cool town exhibit.
Right? I let my imagination run. It’s a really neat exhibit. I’m just not sure if it’s year round. Supposedly, too, there are twenty. I think we only found 13.