Gentrification of the Streets in Correlation to Street Art

Finally! The best part of the day: lunch. As the average commuter makes their way through the city streets and alleyways during their hard earned break, their vision seems to be obstructed by paint strokes of twisted letters crammed together and sprawled across the walls. Vandalism. Unacceptable, delinquent behaviour that is offensive to any civilised individual. However to others, this defacement of public property is the apotheosis of artistic expression.

This street art tour loosely follows the story of street art in Melbourne. The main theme is Gentrification on the streets and how it correlates with Street art. The tour ranges from political slogans at one end of the spectrum, to the production of vibrant, bold and aesthetically pleasing spray-painted veneers on the other end.

Stop 1: CBD

The first stop in this tour is located in the CBD, where Melbourne’s street art journey began, inspired by the New York street art culture. Young artists emerged frequently in an attempt to paint the city in their colour. Graffiti was mostly related…

Stop 2: Rose Street Artists Market

As the CBD saw a rise in house prices, street artists began moving out of the city. Fitzroy became the new artistic hub. It attracted young artists with its lower rent and abundant space. This set off a chain reaction of artists contributing to…

Stop 3: Brunswick St

Walking on Brunswick Street is not the same as walking on Rose Street. The spatial setting starts to somewhat change as we make our way towards where the artists were forced to pack their bags and head to next, Collingwood. In the meantime, there is…

Stop 4: Gertrude St

As you walk along Brunswick St towards Gertrude St, you notice a slow change in scenery. Residential buildings replace middle class shops; you spot Brotherhood of St. Laurence offices and just up ahead a row of commission houses. You become…

Stop 5: Smith St

We have travelled through time to reach our final stop and explored the story of artists from the city to Collingwood and everything in between. Street art, at this stop, is less and less about aesthetic value and more about political charge and…