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KINGSTON, Jamaica (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In the five years Alvin McGowan has owned Annali’s, a restaurant in downtown Kingston, he has never seen so many people walking around casually and unafraid - a remarkable sight given the area’s reputation as unsafe and rundown.
“The stigma of downtown at one time, the people were a bit afraid. But now it is different because of the murals on the walls,” McGowan, 55, said.
Vibrant, poignant murals have been appearing on the walls of Jamaica’s capital as part of Paint the City, a project by the nonprofit Kingston Creative to revive the city’s neglected downtown district and support the local arts community.
In the five years Alvin McGowan has owned Annali's, a restaurant in downtown Kingston, he has never seen so many people walking around casually and unafraid - a remarkable sight given the area's reputation as unsafe and rundown.