Guide to Melbourne’s best street art

Melbourne is renowned for its street art. Get the lowdown on where to find it and what to look for, or map out your next visit with our street art walking guide.

Drewery Alley

Inspired by visions of a mystical shrine, artist Jaz Mishap has created a towering mural at the end of this narrow lane. The floating apparition is painted in Mishap’s signature colourful, vibrant style. Gaze up to see the figure drawing down its mask, revealing a face split down the middle.

Mornane Place

Transport yourself to Europe in a little laneway behind Grossi. This immersive vista of Venice comes from artist Micah Nagle. Other beautiful hidden pieces by this artist include murals of sword-bearing kittens and David Bowie.

Hosier Lane

Melbourne’s most iconic cobbled laneway has been beloved by photographers for decades. This is a shifting canvas, though, with graffiti disappearing and appearing overnight. Perhaps the most memorable is the large-scale spray-paint mural by artist Adnate. To see his 23-metre-high realist mural, look up.

Meyers Place

Meyers Place was home to the eponymous bar that launched Melbourne's laneway revolution. Now one of four thoroughfares transformed by our Green Your Laneway program. Here, you'll find a Mike Makatron mural. Admire his beautiful urban jungle, then enjoy cocktails and NYC slices from Pizza Pizza Pizza.

AC/DC Lane

Named after the legendary Oz rock band, AC/DC Lane is a nexus for music and street art. Marvel at sticker-bombed windows. Check out murals of AC/DC’s Malcolm Young, and Mike Makatron’s 3D sculpture of Bon Scott bursting through the wall. While you're here, you can stop by one of Melbourne's newest venues, Bar Bambi.

Duckboard Place

Big murals cover this lane’s walls. None are bigger than Steen Jones’ towering tribute to Melbourne. This bold design of roses and a butterfly looks like the wall has got itself a tattoo in honour of the city. Curious characters by Lukas Kasper frequent the walls of this strip. And on a much smaller scale, there’s also one of the last Banksy rats, which used to lurk all over the CBD.

Upper West Side Street Art Precinct

Melbourne’s first official street art precinct was launched in December 2017, curated by the Juddy Roller collective. They worked with six huge names from Melbourne’s street art scene. The venue is an old power station, the perfect easel for these large-scale graphic murals. There's Dvate’s orange-bellied parrots. Rone’s massive, photorealist muses. There are also a couple of Smug standouts. Look for the enormous portrait of his grandparents.

Little Lonsdale Street

Check out one of the largest works next to Melbourne Central on Little Lonsdale Street. Celeste Mountjoy, also known as @filthyratbag, has delivered a massive 15m mural to the side of a building. The eye-catching piece tales a humorous look at human-cat relationships.

Bullens Lane

This city holds street art so close to its heart, that even its rubbish compactors are painted! Mimi Leung worked with the city to transform a dirty laneway into something full of joy and whimsy. Spot the glowing eyes on the flowers and quirky characters watching closely over Bullens Place.

Blender Lane

Blender Lane is another artists’ darling. No wonder, it was the first home of urban art incubator, Blender Studios. The unsigned cul-de-sac is a whirl of tags, stencils, graffiti art and paste-ups. No space has been left untouched. You’ll find it off Franklin Street, up near Queen Victoria Market. These artists also run tours and workshops.

Presgrave Place

Hidden off Howey Place you'll find a miniature outdoor art gallery that's equal parts kitsch and grunge. The street art here leans toward the three-dimensional. Find dozens of mismatched frames filled with tiny sculptures and drawings bursting off the walls.

Outdoor Living

This dreamy neon scene emerged like a bright, blooming gift for city dwellers during lockdown. Installed on the Hanover House building, the painted mural-slash-LED piece was inspired artist Atong Atem's vintage European wallpaper collection. Outdoor Living is part of the new Beulah project in Southbank.

Flash Forward

Flash Forward is the epic creative program taking over city laneways with murals and street art from the best local talent. Roam the city to find stunning new street art pieces popping up. Explore the completed works so far.