Melbourne Street Art: the 2 hour tour you can do between meetings!

Street Art now features prominently as one of Melbourne’s major tourist draw cards in a city with no shortage of things to see and do. If you find yourself in Melbourne but on a tight schedule, here’s a suggestion for packing a few of the sites in without wandering too far from the CBD:

1) Start at Degraves Street (CBD)

It’s probably Melbourne’s most famous alleyway, tucked away between Flinders Street and Collins street. The art work isn’t that inspiring to be honest, but it’s a good place to start and a good way to check out some of Melbourne’s alleyways at the same time.

2) Walk down to Hosier Lane (CBD)

Just a ten minute walk from Degraves Street, either down Collins Street of Flinders Street. If you take Flinders Street, go past Fed Square and Hosier Lane is on the corner where MoVida Tapas Bar is. There’s probably the highest concentration of street art on this back lane than anywhere in Melbourne. Hosier Lane takes you into a delightful world of fantasy in an explosion of colour. The street has recently been given a makeover and whilst the artists and graffiti purists may not totally approve of a structured and planned approach to their art form, the impact is terrific for the casual observers amongst us, especially how they’ve now gone vertical.

2. Catch the Tram to Fitzroy Street exit anywhere from stops 12 to 15.

The Street Art is a little spread out in Fitzroy but don’t let that put you off. If you get off between stops 12 to 15 and just wander off the high street, you will generally find most of the sites, zigzagging across the streets as you go.

If Hosier Lane is one big fantasy street scape, then this part of Fitzroy is a throwback to the old school world of graffiti. A mixture of Hip Hop street homages and B-Boys.

4. Next, walk over to Brunswick Street to see creative shop and residential installations!

When you walk the 15 minutes to Brunswick Street you can see how the local community has embraced the street art world. A few years ago these property owners may well have called the police if graffiti had appeared within one hundred yards of their property for fear of a property price crash. Now it’s called Street Art, it’s a legitimate home makeover.

 

5) Catch The Tram back to CBD

I’ve done this whole Street Art speed Street Art trip myself, and it’s not too hard to squeeze it into 2 hours!