Portrait of Charlotte Forten & Sculpture of the Woman
Project Proposal Information
I began concept development for this proposal by asking myself three questions. The first question was “Who was Charlotte Forten Grimké?.” Reading her letters, journal entries, poetry, essays and biography, I learned that on the most fundamental level, Charlotte was a deeply compassionate person who dedicated her life to helping others in the hope for a better future for everyone and that, in this way, she is a role model for us all. My next questions were: “How should Salem honor Charlotte’s legacy?” and “How might Charlotte want to be honored by a memorial?”. At length I realized that to be true to Charlotte’s legacy as well as to appropriately commemorate her, the memorial should be as much about the people she strove to help as it is about Charlotte herself and that this is how she should inspire us today and how Salem can celebrate her role in its proud history of abolition and civil rights.
To commemorate Charlotte in a manner consistent with her legacy, I propose to create two sculptures, one for either end of Charlotte Forten Park. The first is a large-scale portrait of Charlotte that focuses on the particular features and expression of the young woman who was the first African-American to graduate from Salem State University (formerly Salem Normal School) and who became the first African-American teacher in Salem Public Schools. I propose that the following quote is carved in stone beneath the large-scale portrait of Charlotte so that her inspirational words occupy a prominent place in the memorial:
…let us labor earnestly and faithfully to acquire knowledge, to break down the barriers of prejudice and oppression. Let us take courage; never ceasing to work, — hoping and believing that if not for us, for another generation there is a better, brighter day in store…
- Charlotte Forten Grimké, September 12, 1855
The second sculpture I propose is a ¾ life-size standing figure based on a photograph taken at around the time Charlotte was leaving Salem for South Carolina to become the first African-American teacher in Beaufort County. While the second figure’s features are also particular, she is unnamed because the identity of the person in the photograph (c. 1861-1870) is unknown.
This figure represents all the people Charlotte dedicated her life to championing in the causes of abolition, women's suffrage, and civil rights, whether they were near or far, or in her era or ours.
The sculpture of the woman also refers to all the as-yet untold stories of those who faithfully worked “to break down the barriers of prejudice and oppression... hoping and believing that if not for [them], for another generation there is a better, brighter day.”
The sculpture is raised on a bronze pedestal that is set atop a low granite base. The pedestal is covered with engravings created through a process of community engagement where residents of Salem will contribute writing and drawings about untold Salem stories for translation into bronze as a permanent part of the memorial.
Through her writing, we can experience Charlotte’s voice; her character and faith through her vision for a better future; and her clear-eyed commitment to public service and equality, through her efforts as a teacher and an activist. We can come to know her temperament in the high standards to which she held herself and her courage by the many race-based barriers she broke through; it was a courage that she matched with a profound humility. Foregrounding a figure that represents untold stories and the people who Charlotte fought for is a testimony to her legacy and is perhaps what she would have liked to see in Charlotte Forten Park.
Unidentified woman, Salem, Massachusetts, Courtesy of the Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-11074
Design Description
The scale of a figure sculpture, in other words its physical size in relation to the human body, affects how we emotionally respond to the subject of the sculpture. We relate to a life-sized figurative sculpture as we would to another human body and it also seems to occupy the same space as we do. A larger- or smaller-than-life-sized sculpture of a person creates a more dynamic interaction with the viewer because our sense of our own scale is affected by it and because it seems to occupy a different space from ours.
A monumental figurative sculpture will tend to emphasize the prominence of its subject, making something that is perhaps ordinary into something remarkable that commands respect. The enlarged scale encourages us to linger longer to examine the work from different angles in order to fully take it in. Smaller than life-sized sculptures tend to emphasize the vulnerability of the subject and enhance the subject’s vulnerability if placed in an open space. Shrinking the scale of a figurative sculpture will also create a feeling of distance or remove from the subject and will encourage the viewer to linger over small details.
I propose two sculptures for Charlotte Forten Park, both cast in traditional bronze and both realistic portrayals of their subjects. One of the sculptures is monumental scale and the other is three-quarter/under life-sized scale.
Sculpture 1
The monumental sculpture is a cast bronze portrait head of Charlotte Forten situated on the east, river-side of the Park near El Punto so that the South River acts as its backdrop. Standing at nearly 5 feet high, the portrait is approximately five times life-sized. It is mounted on a 2-foot-tall base so that the top of the head is at six and a half feet tall, above the height of most viewers. The side of the base facing Derby Street will be engraved with the above-mentioned quote by Charlotte which identifies the subject of the sculpture for viewers and speaks to her lifelong commitment to education and equity as well as to her hope for the future and her unwavering dedication to the betterment of others in the face adversity.
The portrait’s expression is forthright and confrontational. It is kind but stern and conveys Charlotte’s intelligence, bravery, humility, and compassion. The portrait is oriented towards Derby Street and the opposite end of the Park, directing our attention to the second sculpture.
Sculpture 2
The portrait of Charlotte gazes towards a three-quarter scale sculpture of the figure of a standing woman. As described, the sculpture is based on the photograph “Unidentified woman, Salem, Massachusetts” c. 1861-1870 (Courtesy of the Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-11074) which was presented by Dr. Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello of Salem State University in a 2021 discussionon “Unsung Heroes: Black Women’s History in Essex County”.
The sculpture is set back from the Derby Street sidewalk by approximately 7-10’ allowing space for visitors to collect in front of it without obstructing sidewalk traffic while also easily accessible to passersby. The sculpture tenderly and accurately reproduces the photo on which it is based, commemorating the unidentified woman as well as symbolizing the many people Charlotte’s legacy has impacted and will continue to impact. While the sculpture is realistic, its more intimate scale suggests that the figure could be an idea that Charlotte held in her mind’s eye rather than in the same space as the sculpture of Charlotte. The woman could be anyone whose story has yet to be told and anyone who Charlotte fought for.
The figure is elevated on a pedestal so that the top of the head is at six feet high. The pedestal alludes to the significance of this unnamed figure. The pedestal’s sides are engraved with text and drawings on the subject of untold stories, perhaps specifically related to the legacy and connected histories of the abolitionist, women's suffrage, and civil rights movements in Salem. The engraved drawings on the base will be derived from a community-sourced design process in collaboration with local groups. (see Section 4. “Informed Community Engagement Plan”).
The Artwork
The two sculptures relate to one another across the space of the Park so that the whole Park figuratively becomes the artwork. As visitors move between the two sculptures, they are engaged in considering who the sculptures represent and what the relationship is between them.
Informed Community Engagement Plan
While many aspects of this proposal must by necessity rely on traditional studio-based approaches, there are several ways in which the community can be involved and directly contribute to the project so that in the end the artwork reflects the community and the community is fully invested in the work through participatory design. Several projects have prepared me to work closely with communities.
First, I am a local artist and can readily present progress on the artwork to the community in person to solicit feedback. Community members would also be welcome to visit my Somerville studio (1 hour south of Salem) to see the work-in-progress in person. For my permanent installation “North Square Stories” in Boston’s North Square, a self-selected Advisory Panel of community members visited the studio on several occasions to participate in the project and give feedback; their collaboration was an essential part of the work.
If selected for this project, I would host an in-person artist talk for the community early in the design development phase to introduce myself and my approach and discuss how community members can play a role. Again, for the “North Square Stories” project my team would regularly visit already scheduled neighborhood meetings to present slide show updates and solicit feedback. There were usually over 50 attendees to these monthly community meetings.
We also collaborated with two local grammar schools on one of the four sculptures that comprise the “North Square Stories” permanent installation. Students made drawings about their or their family’s countries of origin as luggage labels that we engraved into badges and attached to a sculpture of a suitcase which we then cast in bronze. The children are in high school now but will one day visit the site with their own children to look at the drawings they made in 2018.
I propose a similar collaboration with community groups for the Charlotte Forten Memorial Project, welcoming all to the table to play a role in the process by developing an opportunity for direct participation in the work by making drawings for translation into bronze for the base of the sculpture of the figure. I would reach out to longtime community members, especially residents of nearby El Punto neighborhood, for their assistance in scheduling the workshops.
One subject for community drawings is imagery relating to ways in which Charlotte’s endeavors and those of her peers mirror the contemporary, lived experiences of Salemites today. Another subject of the drawings could be ‘Untold Salem Stories’. I would reach out to local historians and scholars at Salem State University for help with research into untold Salem stories to enhance the scope of materials I present at the workshops.
When the sculpture in bronze is unveiled, it will commemorate Charlotte Forten as well as the community who helped make the work. As time goes by, community members will always be able to see the physical evidence of their participation in the making of the work whenever they or their family and friends visit the site.
Conclusion
This proposal for the Charlotte Forten Memorial Project includes many specifications in accordance with the project guidelines.
However, if selected for this project, I will welcome revisions to my initial concept in order to enable full collaboration in partnership with community members and the City of Salem.
Artist Bio
Ann Hirsch is a Greater Boston-based sculptor who has completed public artworks across the U.S. and in Canada. She founded Ann Hirsch Sculpture Studio in 2011 and has developed a working method that relies heavily on community engagement practices and storytelling through figurative sculpture in bronze. With each challenge presented by a public sculpture, her goals are to be true to the subject, the community and the site's history, character and current use as well as to animate her portrait sculpture with a sense of presence that enlivens interactions with viewers.
Her work includes the Bill Russell Legacy Project at Boston City Hall Plaza on which she collaborated with local youths through mentorship programming. The monument celebrates the complex legacy of a human rights activist, mentorship leader, champion basketball player and one of Boston's greatest African-American heroes. As founding partner in A+J Art+Design, she launched the touring public artwork “SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers)” which has been shown in waterways in Boston, Worcester, Grand Rapids, MI and Toronto, Canada. Through A+J she also created a cycle of sculptures for one of Boston's oldest public squares, North Square. The project involved a two-and-a-half year process of community engagement with neighborhood groups in the North End. Other works include monuments to the first female CEO in the U.S., Anna Bissell; the leader in women’s sports and empowerment, Muffet McGraw; and the abolitionist and suffragist Abby Kelley Foster. Ann was also shortlisted for Central Park’s Woman Suffrage Monument, having been selected from over 90 entrants. Her awards include 2017 Outstanding Project of the Year by Americans for the Arts, a 2020 APWA Public Works Project of the Year Award and a 2020 Boston Preservation Alliance Award. Ann has also taught at the Rhode Island School of Design for over a decade.