Some people think wall art is nothing more than graffiti or vandalism but some cities have embraced the practice and think that it adds to the character of the city. Melbourne, Australia is one of those cities. The Central Business District (CBD) of Melbourne not only allows the practice of wall art but in some cases issues a permit for wall art. Some buildings in Melbourne require a permit to paint wall art and other buildings require the building owner to give permission. Wall art or graffiti that is unauthorized will be removed within 24 hours.

Melbourne is internationally known as one of the top cities for seeing wall art. The most famous alleyways to see wall art in Melbourne are Hosier Lane, Union Lane, AC/DC Lane and Croft Lane.

I do not know all of the ins and outs of wall art and the “message” that the artist is trying to express. My only take on wall art is that I appreciate the talent and creativity of the artist. For me, wall art is no different than any other art. Some of it is serious, some is funny and some is just obscure but I truly enjoy seeing all forms of art. The photos below are just a few of the wall paintings that I saw while walking in the CBD of Melbourne.

Most of the wall art that can be seen in Melbourne is relatively small in size with multiple paintings on a single wall but there are some paintings that cover the entire wall. These paintings are designed to change the landscape of the wall by making it more colorful, vibrant and engaging. Three of these full wall paintings are shown below. I think that these paintings have transformed the building by taken an old building and given it new life.

One thing to note about the wall art in Melbourne is that it is not intended to be permanent. There is no length of time that a painting will be on a wall so the paintings that are seen in this post may or may not still be on the wall. They may have been painted over by a new painting.

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