Public Art Melbourne

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City of Melbourne’s Public Art Melbourne opens up the city to artists to create encounters with the Public art comes to you.

It is out and about, as you are, on the street. It can be a permanent feature of the cityscape; or fleeting, there one day, gone the next. It can be a thing to look at or an experience. Whatever form it takes, public art is about ideas. It is there to make life more interesting and more wonderful. Public Art Melbourne opens up the city to artists – to create encounters with the unexpected, for the people of Melbourne.

27/10/2026

Announcing 'DREAM' by Ruth O'Leary, an uplifting new artwork commission for the Hero Apartment Building.

Created from analogue photobooth images captured in Melbourne's C*D, this artwork transforms an intimate photographic process into a bold billboard-scale public artwork.

Acting as a form of soft armour concealing the artist's face, felt letter masks that spell out the word ‘DREAM’ invite viewers to consider their own aspirations, memories and imagined futures. In a city saturated with commercial messaging and visual noise, this artwork offers a simple yet powerful alternative prompt – 'DREAM'.

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Dja Dja Wurrung/Djaara Country based Ruth O’Leary has maintained a rigorous practice of maternal self-documentation – spanning gestation, birth, childrearing and aging – addressing art history’s systematic erasure of motherhood as lived experience. Working across drawing, painted textiles, photography and performance, she deploys her body as both material and subject, documenting experiences typically excluded from institutional memory. From her photobooth series to provocative textile works, her practice refuses easy categories, creating work that confronts invisible labour, sexuality and the complexity of women’s lives.

Ruth O’Leary, DREAM, Hero Apartment Building commission 2026
Commissioned by in partnership with the Hero Apartment Building Owners Corporation

'Leary is represented by

18/06/2026

Expressions of Interest now open.

, in partnership with the Hero Apartment Building Owners Corporation, is commissioning a new billboard-scale artwork for this high-profile building in central Melbourne.

Artists living in Victoria, as well as First Nations artists with connection to country, are invited to apply.

Just submit a short statement and up to three images of your artwork – a concept proposal is not required for this EOI stage.

✴️ Shortlisted artists will receive $1000 each, to develop a preliminary concept proposal.

✴️ The selected artist will receive $6000 to develop and deliver the final detailed artwork files.

Expressions of Interest close at 5pm on Tuesday 14 July.

For more information visit bit.ly/4s7Wsgb

28/05/2026

As we reflect during National Reconciliation Week, we’d like to share a bold new artwork by Lisa Waup and recognise the power of art in truth-telling, connection and collective healing.

Waup's artwork, presented on an 83-metre-long hoarding, holds space for the upcoming immersive public artwork in development for University Square. The artwork at this site will be an expression of First Peoples cultural continuity, storytelling and enduring connection to Country. It’s envisioned as a shared place, one that holds memory and movement, and encourages us to consider our collective presence and future together.

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Lisa Waup is a mixed-cultural First Nations artist and curator based in narrm (Melbourne). Her multidisciplinary practice encompasses weaving, experimental printmaking, sculpture, fashion, body adornment and public art. Possessing a keen sensitivity to the symbolic and cultural significance of materials, Waup’s practice is informed by personal experience, family history, Country, and broader historical and social narratives.

delivers the Creative Hoardings program. Visit bit.ly/3YFcmCA for more information.
waup

07/05/2026

Test Sites 2026 is off to an excellent start with the first of two initial workshops kicking off the program last weekend.

We welcomed artists Rachel Hanlon , Rachel Lewindon , Sara Tuell .art Tom Richards and Diego Faivre

Head of Creative Urban Places John Cunningham and Lynda Roberts of .assembly led enlightening and engaging sessions, all expertly facilitated by Arie Rain Glorie

Congratulations to all of our artists!

We’re looking forward to seeing the projects' development and testing over the course of the program.

30/04/2026

Expressions of Interest are now open for a large-scale public mural on the exterior of the new Kensington Community Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

We're seeking an artist or artist team to create a work that responds to the public realm, nature and the local community, strengthening the connection between the building and its context.

Open to Victoria‑based artists.

Paid concept stage for shortlisted artists.

No designs required at this stage.

EOI closes 18 May 2026.

Details via www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/kensington-recreation-centre-mural

23/04/2026

Calling all artists! Grants of up to $25,000 are now available to bring bold, one-off arts projects to life in our city in 2027.

The Annual Arts Grants program supports artists to deliver impactful creative outcomes in our city.

Individual artists and small to medium arts organisations across all disciplines including performance art, music, dance, theatre, and visual art are encouraged to apply.

Apply now melbourne.vic.gov.au/annual-arts-grants

Applications close 11.59pm, Wednesday 6 May 2026.

Image: Solar Cells, Mat Watson 2023. 📷: Yunis

Address

Melbourne, VIC
3001

Telephone

+61396589658

Website

https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/arts-and-culture/art-outdoors/public-art-melbourne/Pages/public-art-melbourne.aspx

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