What can you say about Joseph? It’s a picture perfect town at the base of the picture perfect Wallowa Mountains.

But it wasn’t always that way.

“It was the poster child for economic depression,” said sculptor Shelley Curtis, who moved there in the early 80s. “Probably 70 percent of the storefronts on Main Street were vacant.”

But whereas Joseph was once just a grocery stop on the way to Wallowa Lake, it is now an arts and recreation destination. Since Main Street’s facelift in 2000, visitor spending in the county has grown from $16.5 million to $26.5 million, according to Travel Oregon.

What was it that made Joseph such a perfect melting pot for arts and the economy? We find out.

This story ran as part of a bigger show about the love affair between small towns and the arts that also included stops in Mighty Tieton and Joseph. You can hear the whole thing here: http://www.opb.org/radio/programs/stateofwonder/segment/state-of-wonder-august-15-2015-arts-and-small-towns-a-love-story/