Palabra Hair Art Collective, a hair salon that doubles as an art gallery, opened its doors early December in downtown Phoenix adding to the theme of small businesses with functional art spaces to the community.
“I feel like this place gave us room to change it up and not fit the mold,” Julia Duran said, salon co-owner. “We’re not pretentious, we’re friendly … and open.”
Duran said she has been working with hair for 10 years. The salon, located near Seventh and Pierce Streets, focuses on cut and color, waxing, extensions and dreadlocks.
“It’s becoming a little creative corner … It’s still part of the art community but a little bit off the grid,” Jorge Torres said, co-owner of Palabra and graduate from Maricopa Beauty College.
With an urban yet classy atmosphere, Torres said he wants the salon to remain intimate so each client can get individual attention from the stylist and detail won’t be neglected.
“We can cater more to each client … less conversations at once. I wanted to really change the aesthetic as far as customer service,” Torres said.
Torres has been doing hair for five years and said Palabra was a way to be a part of a creative movement that would allow him to provide for his family financially and to have a company built specifically with his brand.
By utilizing locally owned and operated small businesses, Palabra gives back to the small business community.
The logo for the company—a human body designed with cosmetic tools in place of the head, arms and legs—was created by local artist Ashley Macias with input from graphic designer Zack Newsome and Torres. Torres also uses Hermitag/e Press, owned by journalism students, for print work.
Priscilla Urrutia, dreadlock specialist at Palabra, focuses on dreadlock maintenance, which consists of recovery, installation, extensions and color. She said she was interested in the spiritual aspect of dreadlocks when she learned of their meaning in the Rastafari movement.
“The way we see hair, we love the natural texture of hair … we always like to keep it really fresh and edgy,” Urrutia said.
Each dreadlock for a Rastafarian member symbolizes a part of their soul that can never be cut, a journey of the mind and spirit as a test of patience to let hair grow naturally.
Ally Carr, print journalism major at ASU, said dreadlocks were a style that she always wanted to try.
“We were talking about (dreadlocks) at church actually and I was like ‘I bet I can do that with my hair’ so I just stopped brushing my hair,” Carr said.
Carr said she has had her dreadlocks for almost two years and had help from her mother with matting and backcombing because she said salons were too expensive. However, Carr said she was interested in visiting Palabra to experiment with different dreadlock styles.
The name Palabra, meaning “word” in Spanish, was a name that both Torres and Duran agreed represented their company personally and professionally.
“That’s your word, that’s what you’re going to stick to, that’s what you’re going to do … word is bond,” Duran said.
Local downtown business owner Shawna Franks of Space 55, a theater which focuses on producing and showing rare and original works, said the salon should add another creative element to the corner.
“It’s a nice collaborative group between (Palabra) and us and Parazol down the way so we all kind of work together,” Franks said. “The more business that we have downtown is going to be better for everyone.”
Contact the reporter at Leslie.Philp@asu.edu
