One of the underlying features that gives Australia's most populous city, Melbourne, its cosmopolitan vibes, is its street art. With many of its alleyways in the CBD designated for street art, it has proved itself to be the Australian street art capital, popular among photographers.

Understand[edit]

There is perhaps no other district in Australia like that found in Australia's largest city – even Newtown in Sydney's Inner West isn't comparable. Melbourne's street art culture had humble beginnings in the 1970s–80s, after the city's socioeconomically disadvantaged were influenced by NYC's street art. Slowly but steadily, it became more popularised on the city's alleyways and railway (train and tram) lines.

Most notably, the city is very well known for its stencil graffiti – most of the CBD's street art is not low-quality graffiti that ruins the aesthetic of your local park, it is what forms the aesthetics of the CBD.

Almost all lanes/alleyways in the CBD known for street art are in Melbourne's free-tram zone, meaning that much of these can be explored at a low cost, even you're on budget travel.

While the CBD is the centre of Melbourne's art scene, you can also find street art in some of its other districts, too, such as Abbotsford, Collingwood or Fitzroy.

See[edit]

Map of Street art in Melbourne

• -37.81632144.9691 Hosier Lane – what may seem like an innocious lane on a map is Melbourne's most iconic street for street art, with murals up to 23 metres high. Nothing on this street is permanent, though, with new pieces of art appearing within weeks apart.
  • -37.8165144.96882 Rutledge Lane – being a side-lane of Hosier La has resulted in the lane being sugarcoated with street art to the 2-metre brim. Who knew that even the bins had photo-worthy street art?
• -37.8155144.97093 ACDC Lane (AC/DC Lane) – named after the rock band, many murals are music-themed and of AC/DC's Malcolm Young.
• -37.8144144.964754 Union Lane – the street art on this lane is perhaps some of the most low quality slap-on found in Melbourne, but much of its character has been lost to a construction site. Only the northeast of the lane still remains as it once was.
• -37.8121144.96455 Caledonian Lane – although known for being the birthplace of Laneway Festival^{[dead link]}, it has many low-lying street art.
• -37.8164144.96556 Centre Place – unlike other Melbourne alleyways, the street art on Centre Place is confined to the rolling doors, meaning they're only visible when the shops are closed. When the shops are open and bustling, you'll (unfortunately) have a hard time spotting street art here.
• -37.8155144.97137 Duckboard Place
• -37.8081144.95928 Blender Lane
• -37.8117144.96899 Croft Alley
• -37.8173144.965810 Degraves Street and Place – although much more well known for its street and food scene, there is some street art that can be found on the corner of Degraves St and Pl.
• -37.8139144.962211 Rankins Lane
• -37.815144.965512 Presgrave Place
• -37.8119144.965613 Tattersalls Lane
  • -37.8118144.965314 Stevenson Lane
• -37.8111144.96415 Drewery Lane
  • -37.8114144.96416 Sniders Lane

Do[edit]

Festivals[edit]

• Big Picture Fest is a street art festival that occurs annually every March in the suburb of Frankston.

See also[edit]

• Murals and graffiti
• Sydney/Inner West – Sydney's Inner West, especially the suburb of Newtown, is Sydney's street art district, though it isn't as large nor widespread as the street art of Melbourne CBD.