Broad Street 

Curator: Let’s take a look at “Broad Street” by Salvatore Pinto, an etching. Editor: My first thought is controlled chaos! Look at that scene – all those hard-working construction folks amidst a cacophony of beams, buckets, and machines…It makes me sweat a little just looking at it. Curator: Absolutely, the print really captures the urban hustle of city construction, right down to the plumes of what I presume is steam, snaking between the buildings. It reflects an era when cities were rapidly changing. The print also gives an idea of a very romantic outlook on construction. We see very beautiful architectural structures contrasting with work on the ground. Editor: Romantic maybe to the eye, less so to the laborer! You know, that crane looming in the center, its boom almost piercing the sky…it makes me feel small but also energized by the city's striving! All those diagonal lines point to a sense of dynamic action. Curator: The scale of the buildings emphasizes that striving and dynamism even further, with each window becoming another potential destination or success story, depending on how you choose to read this landscape. Pinto, I think, understood the power of the city to create these feelings, but that this required the efforts of people on the ground. Editor: It’s almost…hopeful. In its strange, grimy way. Makes you think what was being built, what dreams were being given concrete form. Plus, I have to give credit to Pinto's command over what looks like a challenging printmaking technique. It's like he is making his own map. Curator: And I think this print reminds us of those layers beneath any shiny cityscape: the hard labor and, yes, also, the dreams and ambitions, constructed into something enduring for a community and a nation. Editor: Yeah, a tangible thing that we still can admire today. That really adds perspective for me.