Like many small towns where people have fewer children, and grown children move away to cities, Stomara, a southern Italian hamlet, was referred to as a ghost town. It saddened a local artist, Lino Lombardi, who decided to do something. “In 2017 he created Stramurales, an annual street art festival that sees artists from around the world come to paint murals in the town.” There are now 140 murals as interest has grown with thousands of people visiting every year. “More importantly than a temporary tourist-season boom, the town’s population has stopped declining and begun to grow again as young families move back, locals say.” New businesses have opened, and revenue has increased. Other towns are looking to Stomara for help. Lombardi said, “Our community has painted itself back to life, one wall at a time.”
