Salem Maritime National Historic Site will host a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month in collaboration with North Shore Community Development Coalition (NSCDC) on Sunday, September 24, 2023 beginning at 4 p.m. This event will feature award-winning Mexican-American author of A Dream Called Home, Reyna Grande, and talented local artists and neighbors who interpreted the concept of Grande’s memoir in their newly installed murals. The event will include a multi-artist led tour of the murals in El Punto where participants will be able to learn about each unique interpretation. the tours will begin at 30 Peabody Street in Salem and will conclude with a conversation with Reyna Grande and the featured artists at the Salem Armory Regional Visitor Center located at 2 New Liberty Street in Salem.

“We are deeply honored to be partnering with the North Shore Community Development Coalition building on our relationship offering unique experiences for the local community and visitors,” said Superintendent Jennifer Hardin of Salem Maritime and Saugus Iron Works National Historic Sites. “Opening the park unit and visitor center as spaces to engage with the artists and author to express their inspirations for their work while connecting with visitors allows us to increase our relevance to the broader community.”  

Reyna Grande is an award-winning author, motivational speaker, and writing teacher. As a young girl, she crossed the US–Mexico border to join her family in Los Angeles, a harrowing journey chronicled in The Distance Between Us, a National Book Critics Circle Awards finalist. Her other books include the novels A Ballad of Love and Glory, Across a Hundred Mountains, and Dancing with Butterflies, the memoirs The Distance Between Us: Young Readers Edition, and A Dream Called Home. She is the co-editor of the anthology Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings. She lives in Woodland, California, with her husband and two children. Visit ReynaGrande.com for more information.

To register for free please go to:

Tour with artists at 4 p.m. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-dream-called-home-tour-of-punto-urban-art-museum-w-author-reyna-grande-tickets-714876614197?aff=oddtdtcreator

Visitor center talk with Reyna Grande 5:30 p.m. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-dream-called-home-author-talk-with-reyna-grande-tickets-714884567987?aff=oddtdtcreator

NPS 

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 425 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.