Pigment Workroom Teams With Street Artists to Improve Neighborhoods
Five guys from Bari, Italy, had the same two passions: discovering unknown artists and improving run-down neighborhoods. To achieve these dual goals, Paul Giose Baldassarri, Mario Nardulli, Vittorio Parisi, Frank Nuvolari Passaquindici, and Giuseppe Odd Santoro therefore founded Pigment Workroom—choosing San Pio as the area to make their first mark. Formerly known as Enziteto, it was built in the 1950’s as a social-housing community but later became an isolated ghetto with a dangerous reputation. Pigment Workroom selected street artists to emblazon residential and commercial buildings there with vibrant murals, and the result is “Enziteto Real Estate—A Colorful Escape to the Suburbs.” An unexpected plus? Community collaboration. Residents young and old helped the artists to paint or fed them with freshly baked focaccia.
