Degraves Street

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Degraves Street: Just a stone’s throw from Federation Square and Flinders Street Station, Degraves Street is a narrow strip of cobblestones and cafes, broken down the middle and not quite straight. The place you’re looking for is at the back of the street. So when you come across the intersection in the middle, continue along the second part. It begins just off to the right of where the first half ends.

Degraves Street is a coffee lover’s dream. It’s home to some of Melbourne’s most popular and successful cafes and boutiques. Here you’ll find an array of businesses from bookstores to cobblers, and almost all of them are covered in paint from a spray can.

Back in street art’s infancy it was seen by the outside world, almost exclusively, as a form of vandalism: the destruction of property and a sign of cultural rebellion. While some of this stigma has survived till today, street art as a whole has transitioned into an accepted part of the urban landscape. As such, it’s now also recognised as a common cultural practice.

This change in attitude and the growing appreciation of street art has meant a trend in people being drawn to areas with an abundance of street art. Thus street art has gone from lowering property values to driving them skywards. And places like Degraves Street have become the perfect place to set up shop and fuel Melbourne’s coffee cravings.

It’s time to place another sticker. At the point where Degraves Street ends and the shopping centre begins, you’ll find a seemingly endless collection of tags and stickers. You’re going to take one of your own stickers and add it to the rest.