Mark Ashkanasy, Street Art, City of Melbourne, Union Lane, tagging, graffiti, 2008
Summary
This framed long, colour photograph of Union Lane, Melbourne, features extensive graffiti and tagging, as well as a loading zone sign, Union Lane street sign and bill posters prosecuted sign. These works were produced in connection with the Union Lane Street Art Project.
Union Lane is in the centre of Melbourne’s retail hub, connecting Bourke Street Mall and Little Collins Street. The lane was grungy and randomly tagged until it was transformed between November and December 2007 as part of the Graffiti Mentoring Project, developed by the City of Melbourne's Community Cultural Development Program.
Supported by artist mentors, a site manager and a project coordinator, more than 50 young people between the ages of 13 and 28 created a mural spanning 550 square metres on both sides of Union Lane. Unauthorised taggers and graffiti artists largely respected the mural after its completion, at least for a while before it was eventually subsumed.
