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Australian artists unite to create Melbourne's first official street art precinct

Emerging from the city’s famous laneways, Melbourne street art takes the next step in its creative evolution with the launch of a new art covered precinct – bringing a series of giant mural works to a long-forgotten pocket of the CBD.

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Portrait mural of an elderly bearded man wearing a hat, painted in shades of blue on a tiled electrical sub-station wall in Melbourne's CBD

Melbourne’s reputation as an international street art capital is well documented. For decades now, the city’s laneways and neglected buildings have hosted an ever-evolving canvas of work; work that has been thought-provoking, awe-inspiring and undeniably photogenic.

Now, an ambitious new project has brought together six of Australia’s most celebrated street artists to transform part of an electrical sub-station in Melbourne CBD’s once-grimy south end; bringing this emerging precinct to life through art.

Each artist collaborating on the project — Smug, Dvate, Adnate, Sofles, Fintan Magee and Rone — was given "full creative freedom" to transform the site via a series of colourful, vibrant and eclectic images designed to acknowledge and reflect the world we live in today.

Curated by Shaun Hossack, founder of Melbourne street art collective Juddy Roller, the Upper West Side Street Art Precinct is a collaboration with CitiPower and Far East Consortium.

Hossack – whose recent credits include the curation of the hugely successful Silo Art Trail in Victoria’s Wimmera Mallee as well as a string of major street art projects around Australia – sees the project as a chance to respond to the broader public’s growing appreciation for large-scale civic art.

"The response that we’ve had to the Silo Art Trail has been enormous," he says. "This just proves that the public is really open to experiencing great contemporary art – especially when it has a story to tell. Melbourne is known as a mecca for street art but our inner-city still lacks any significant large-scale mural works."

He offers Belleville – the famed street art district of in Paris’ 13th arrondissement – as an example of how large-scale civic art is being used to engage a broader audience and revitalise overlooked corners of the city. "It’s such a rare opportunity," says Hossack, "the scale of this project is unprecedented in Melbourne’s CBD. It’s the next step in the evolution of Melbourne street art."

Vibrant street art mural on an electrical sub-station featuring a bright yellow-green bird on the right and smaller parakeets on the left, with a black garage door marked "KEEP CLEAR" in the centre and an intimate scene projected above.
Large-scale murals depicting two women in blue tones and a close-up portrait of a person adorn an electrical sub-station beneath classical columns, with parked cars in front
Large mural featuring a figure with outstretched arm against textured blue background, with artist on blue lift working on the right side of the composition
Large mural of a vibrant yellow-green budgerigar with orange and teal markings on an electrical sub-station wall in Melbourne's Upper West Side Street Art Precinct
Three large-scale portrait murals on a heritage building facade in Melbourne's Upper West Side Street Art Precinct, with parked cars on the street below
Pink-roofed electrical sub-station building with large murals including a yellow and green parrot by the street level, surrounded by tall residential towers in Melbourne CBD
Two murals on an electrical sub-station: above, a figure reclining on a bed; below, a vibrant green and yellow parrot with "Keep Clear 25 HR Access" text on the garage door
Colourful mural artworks featuring portraits of faces adorn the exterior wall of a building beneath a colonnade, with three parked cars in front
Mural artworks on a Melbourne CBD building facade featuring blue-toned portraits on the left and a brown-toned portrait on the right, with parked cars below
Blue monochromatic mural covering a building facade in Melbourne's Upper West Side Street Art Precinct, featuring an abstract face with ornate decorative elements below
Large blue mural featuring a stylised face on a brick wall beneath modern apartment buildings, surrounded by leafy trees and metal barriers on a Melbourne street
Giant mural portraits painted on an electrical sub-station wall in Melbourne CBD, featuring blue-toned faces by Australian street artists, with parked cars in front
Large mural on an electrical sub-station featuring a vibrant lime-green bird with spread wings on the right, with abstract grey brushstrokes and figures above, and a dark garage door marked "KEEP CLEAR" on the left
Artist on cherry picker working on large-scale blue mural portrait featuring two faces as part of Melbourne's Upper West Side Street Art Precinct
Row of large blue and portrait murals covering the exterior of an electrical sub-station on a Melbourne CBD street, with parked cars in front
Large blue mural featuring a bearded man's face on the left and a woman's face on the right, painted on an electrical sub-station beneath a building overhang as pedestrians and cars pass by below
Street artist on a ladder painting a large blue mural featuring flowing abstract forms on an electrical sub-station wall, with a small green plant placed at the base
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