Murals & Street Art
Walking around the City of Perth, you’re likely to stumble across a colourful mural or be captivated by some street art.
As our urban art scene evolves, new works are appearing across the city, adding vibrancy to the streets. Some of the works are ephemeral, which means they may only last for a short time before being painted over or replaced with something new.
The City has gained international attention in recent years, with works from some of the world’s best street artists gracing its buildings and lining laneways.
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The Pier St Trees (2024)
Joanna Brown
Designed as a cooling, pleasing, lush ‘jewel-like’ respite from the urban environment it aims to promote wellbeing and lift the spirit. The mural also hints at many shared references from the surrounding natural and built environment.
The plus symbol (+) is similar to the first aid symbol, denoting the healing and cooling effect of trees. The repeated square motif reflects the decorative features found on the facades of surrounding buildings and makes abstract reference to urban street blocks and the formality of nearby Cathedral Square.
Located in a Pier Street Laneway (rear of 534 Hay Street)
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Once Upon a Time in Wolf Lane (2024)
Shakey - Jacob Butler
The artwork depicts a snapshot of a comical yet calamitous sequence of events involving the historical tenants of the Harpers Building in Wolf Lane.
Nathaniel Harper overlooks two delivery men bringing a Maples piano up the stairs before one falls victim to a classic Australian magpie attack, causing him to release the piano. At the base of the stairs is a Samuel Smith & Sons wine merchant who has just realised that the exquisitely rare and expensive wine he’s about to sell is also in harm’s way, thanks in no small part to the cheeky kids flicking marbles into a somewhat perilous spot.
Wolf Lane, Perth
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Trinity College Mural
Fintan Magee
Depicting three students representing Trinity's past, present and future.
2 Trinity Ave, East Perth
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The Conversation (2010)
Stormie Mills
Howard Lane, Perth -
Border Crossing (2012)
Dr Audrey Fernandes-Satar
If you're ever around the Roe Street area of Northbridge, check out this exquisite wild horses mural in Wilson car park (behind The Bird & Ezra Pound). Get up close and you'll see that entwined with the horses are beautiful lines of poetry, including: "Between water and land we'd stay, for the rest of our lives. Bodies displaced, There is no going back. I saw tears in her eyes like I'd never seen before, flowing like the ocean and I promised not to leave. Never leave".
The script is traced from her grandmother’s handwritten recipe books. This story is a powerful reminder that even as we move across borders, into distant lands, the yearning to find ourselves in history and reconnect with place, remains.
(© Streets of Perth 2014 - www.streetsofperthwa.com)Carpark at 18 Roe Street, Northbridge
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Leda and the Swan (2009)
Ololo
Artists Steve Berrick and Steve Buckles are mid-career artists who have developed a diverse body of work both as individuals and as collaborators within Ololo. Their unique blend of visual, street and digital art in conjunction with interactive performance has been a major facet of Perth's contemporary and experimental arts scene since 2006.
Northbridge Piazza, Northbridge
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Light Locker Art Space
Various Artists
Grand Lane, Perth
(access from Murray Street Mall or Barrack Street) -
Night Forest (2010)
Yok
Howard Lane, Perth -
Self-Protection of the Immigrant in Ourself (2014)
Pixel Pancho
According to an article by Central Tafe: "The mural relates to both the migrants coming to Australia to make a new world, and how we are all immigrants in our own way." Created by Italian artist Pixel Pancho, this incredible mural is entitled ‘Self Protection of the Immigrant in Ourself’ and located on the exterior of Central TAFE on Aberdeen St in Northbridge.
(© Streets of Perth 2014 - www.streetsofperthwa.com)Corner Museum Street and Aberdeen Street, Northbridge
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Succeed in Absence
Mel McVee
Mel is a Perth born artist working primarily in the realms of community art, murals, sculpture and illustration. Her interested in street art emerged through a passion in community activation projects in her local area. Aesthetically her work deals with the idea of lines and connection. She uses solid colours and shapes to creatively define an area, an idea or a relationship. Her work reflects the stylisation seen in linocut prints or stain glass windows, while the colour she uses invoke a sense of nostalgia within the surrounding environment.
(© Streets of Perth - www. streetsofperthwa.com)Errichetti Place, Northbridge
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Untitled
Bonsai and Twoone
Located in Grand Theatre Lane, the full mural measures a whopping 99 meters and formed part of the City of Perth's Forgotten Spaces laneway upgrade initiative in 2010.
(© Streets of Perth - www.streetsofperthwa.com)Grand Lane, Perth
(access from Murray Street Mall or Barrack Street) -
Various
Various Artists
Prince Lane, Perth
#streetartperthwa
For more information on the City of Perth’s Cultural Collections, please contact our Cultural Collections team at Collections@cityofperth.wa.gov.au. If you have an enquiry about the City of Perth’s history & heritage, please contact our History Centre team at history.centre@cityofperth.wa.gov.au.
