When I first heard of Colors of Stobosa, I really thought that it's a place somewhere in Europe. It does sound European or is it just me? 😂 But when I did some digging, I found out it's actually the acronym of three sitios in Barangay Balili, La Trinidad, Benguet that participated in a large-scale artwork project by the road. The three sitios are Stonehill, Botiw-Botiw and Sadjap. Thus, StoBoSa!
I haven't seen in person what this place looked like before it was painted but if you Google, a lot of before and after photos of this part of La Trinidad are readily available. Go check it out and without a doubt, you'll agree with me that it's an eyesore. Unfortunately, its before state was impossible to miss because it just stood out in all the wrong ways. Imagine tiny and huge houses piling up one after the other by the hillside all in different colors and shapes. It's just chaos. Who would have thought that it'll be a famous tourist spot when you go to Benguet at present? If you're a fan of art, this might even look familiar. In fact, this project of the Department of Tourism (DOT) way back in 2016 was inspired by the Gamcheon Cultural Village in Busan, South Korea, and the Favela Paint Project in Brazel. Although these two that I've mentioned looked better and are bigger projects (in my opinion), I can tell how proud the local government unit, DOT, and the locals are of the feat!