Street Art in Frankston

Street art is fast gaining popularity in Melbourne so much so that city councils are no longer painting over street art (see: Melbourne City Council accidentally painting over Banksy's stencil of a rat in Hosier Lane in 2010) but instead is spending funds in curating street art. 

Frankston City Council is spending up to $165,000 over 3 years to transform the city centre's walls and laneways. We braved the rain and wind to go on a guided tour of the new pieces being completed for the council in March and saw some awesome pieces in their last stages of completion. 

I have included pictures of some of the pieces that I like (maybe I should refer to them as 'walls of art', rather than 'pieces'!). There were some abstract ones, but as you can see, I prefer ones with people and animals. I think I relate better to these ones rather than to abstract pieces. 

I learnt on the guided tour that the artists may have a brief idea of what they plan to paint, but unlike painting on a canvas, walls are much trickier to paint on. Everything from the surrounding shops, the way the sun sets on the wall, any windows on the wall etc impacts on the position and what is painted on the walls. 

One of the biggest highlight was seeing Smug's art. Smug is an Australian but internationally based street artist. He painted a picture of a skeleton holding a bird - it was unfinished at the time of viewing so I have not taken a picture of it. Another reason to go back and view all the finished pieces on a sunnier day!!

Most of these pieces have their own messages, up to the viewer's interpretation. For Smug's piece, perhaps it meant that everyone under their skin is the same. We did see him around the site while on the guided tour, but as he did not stop to speak to us, I will never know for sure..

For more information of the street art in Frankston, refer to the following link: 

http://www.frankston.vic.gov.au/Things_To_Do/Frankston_City_Public_Art/Street_Art