In light of the increase in early school leaving and the post-pandemic economic crisis, I have chosen to establish a new art school in Matera. My goal is to rethink Public Art as an educational experience by redeveloping a state property that was granted to me for thirty years within the Rioni Sassi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The relationship with the local community, which I have deepened in the last six years through the exchange with institutions, museums, cooperatives, schools, universities, and associations, as well as the geo-cultural relevance of Matera concerning the Epistemologies of the South and the dynamics linked to the Mediterranean, make this experimentation an act of resistance, in opposition to the proliferation of tourist flows and the progressive deterritorialization that removes the new generation from the Sassi. I started this process by creating a digital platform (southofimagination.org) and producing a multichannel video installation for the Museo del Novecento in Milan – thanks to the support of the General Direction for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture as part of the Italian Council program. In the next three years, in combined action with the citizens of Matera and all the partners engaged in the project, I will be involved in the restoration and conservation work of ruins still in a state of decay and neglect. In support of this participatory process, a PhD in Urban Planning Technique at the Sapienza University of Rome contributes to configuring an adequate analysis of the territory from a transformative perspective. My wish is to share this experience as an alternative model within systemic strategies for overall regional growth according to a non-economic vision.