Your Ultimate Queensland Street Art Road Trip — From Brisbane To Cairns
As a country far from the rest of the world, many Australians understandably favour international travel to see what they’re missing down here, rather than travelling for hours in their own states and territories to listen to the same accents and experience a culture not too dissimilar from wherever they’ve come.
With COVID rocking the world, making international travel a no-no, eyes have brightened once more to the possibilities we may find at home. While we will never be as culturally diverse as Europe, there is potential in every place to be surprised and delighted. Not just by our natural resources (which are, of course, just freakin’ spectacular), but by the growth of towns across the country that have adopted contemporary qualities. These qualities now making them far more appealing to city dwellers who would have once been less than enthusiastic at the prospects of travelling to these places which could have meant giving up stable Internet access and decent cafes.
ROA in Townsville.
Unsurprisingly, our regional towns have grown. They have modernised and absorbed influences from the ever more connected world around them. In the last five years, we saw a steep rise in the number of places running street art festivals, and opening up their minds to the possibilities that art can bring to a town.
All across the coast of Queensland, art can be found. No longer is the draw only about the resources surrounding these areas, the cities and towns themselves have become destinations for art lovers to follow their favourite artists and learn about these locations through the artwork that is found there.
Brontë Naylor in Cairns.
Queensland, not just Brisbane, is a street art destination. And we have the whole street art road trip mapped out for you to embark upon, covering the Sunshine Coast, Emu Park & Yeppoon, Mackay, Airlie Beach, Home Hill, Townsville, Mission Beach, and Cairns.
Queensland Street Art Road Trip Map
Covering artworks from Brisbane, all the way up to Cairns, what follows is your complete Queensland street art road trip guide, including information on the places worth your visit, as well as a downloadable Google map with all of the street art spots. So you’re guaranteed to get all the good stuff.
Brisbane Street Art
As a capital city, Brisbane has always had street art. Local artists have been painting here illegally and legally for decades, but it’s only been the last five or so years that massive murals have popped up in great numbers. This is thanks to the Brisbane Street Art Festival, which runs annually and brings in the best national and international artists to paint the town.
If you only have a short amount of time in Brisbane, the must-visit street art spots would have to be South Brisbane, Fortitude Valley, and West End (links go to maps for each area).
Mural on Fish Lane by Emily Devers (a.k.a. Mimi).
Sunshine Coast Street Art
(Time from Brisbane: 1hr and 30mins)
On the Sunshine Coast, the main street art hot spots are Caloundra, Maroochydore, and Nambour. Caloundra and Nambour are the most densely populated with artworks. But Maroochydore has pieces from big-name artists like Gus Eagleton, Tayla Broekman, and Fuzeillear, so it’s definitely worth the stop. (All links go to maps of each area).
The great thing about the street art on the Sunshine Coast is that it’s in pockets and once you get to these areas, you can find a park somewhere in the middle and just follow them all on foot.
Mural by Gus Eagleton in Maroochydore.
Emu Park & Yeppoon Street Art
(Time from Sunshine Coast: 6hrs and 45mins)
Just 25 minutes away from each other, Emu Park and Yeppoon have become top-notch street art destinations. Emu Park boasts artwork from British artist, Rosie Woods (who we were lucky enough to interview on the podcast), and a series of adorable characters by Simon McLean painted in all sorts of silly scenarios at the Main Beach Bathing Pavillions.
Yeppoon is where you’ll need a little more time to stop and conduct a bit of a walking tour, with the Central Car Park and Yeppoon Lagoon painted by Out There Co, Anzac Parade painted by James Ellis, and the Livingstone Shire Library all on your list to hunt down.
Mural by Out There Co. at the Yeppoon Central Cark Park.
Mackay Street Art
(Time from Yeppoon: 4hrs)
Mackay has had a burst of colour added with its Fifth Lane project, which saw 16 artists come in and turn a previously unsavoury lane into a walking wonderland. Not only can you find artwork from quality national artists, but the Mackay City Council has also created an augmented reality experience that brings some of the pieces to life through your phone.
Kate Brunner and Marissa Moore on Fifth Lane.
Airlie Beach Street Art
(Time from Mackay: 2hrs)
There isn’t a whole lot in Airlie, but there are pieces from some of our favourite Brisbane-based artists, Drapl and Treazy, so we felt it was worth a mention. These pieces are found at Nomads, the backpackers. Some are on-site, so you may need to get brave and go for a little stickybeak.
Wall by Treazy, on-site at Nomads.
Home Hill Street Art
(Time from Airlie: 2 hrs)
Home Hill is a location we didn’t actually realise had any artwork until we stopped there for a break and found a massive mural by Jon Electros Avocado. Then we drove further and found another and another. Thankfully, these are all on or off of the main street, so it’s an easy one to just stop by for a little leg stretch and photo snap.
There is actually quite a bit to be found in the Burdekin area, which we didn’t get to. Thankfully, there is a handy map for all y’all headed that way.
Mural by Jon Electros Avocado at 126 Eighth Ave.
Townsville Street Art
(Time from Home Hill: 1hr and 30mins)
Townsville is the pièce de résistance of the Queensland street art road trip, in our humble opinion. Cairns does come in a very close second for North and Far North QLD, but Townsville absolutely shines. There are a few reasons for this:
- They have big-name artists from across the country and the globe
- There is a great diversity of styles, and they seem to have trusted the artists to paint original work
- Townsville City Council actively promote their art!
No other city on this road trip encourages visitors to go into the tourism office to pick up a pamphlet with a map of all the current work. They also keep this map available on their website. With a city that invested in street art, it has a big, big, big thumbs up from us.
Mural by ROA in the car park off Flinders Street, just before Denham Lane.
Mission Beach Street Art
(Time from Townsville: 3hrs)
Another location we had no idea would turn into a street art hunt, was Mission Beach. On our return journey down south, local artist, Lavinia Letheby, got in touch to let us know that she has been painting up a storm in Mission Beach. Two hours later we met up and got a tour of the lovely artworks.
Mission Beach is a cute stopover, again, with just a few pieces so you can park, stretch your legs and take a snap of some of Lavinia’s beautifully work which tends to feature realistic main characters and vibrant non-realistic settings.
Mural by Lavinia at 41–43 Porter Promenade (you have to go through the path by the shops).
Cairns Street Art
(Time from Mission Beach: 2hrs)
Cairns offers an amazing tropical cityscape — with lush green plants aplenty –, as well as stunning artwork, thanks to the Sea Walls street art festival, which attracted massive national and international artists (check the list here). For the project, all artists came together to paint artworks that tell poignant stories about the threats we are currently facing to our climate, with the Great Barrier Reef already dying and suffering the ramifications.
Another cool thing about Cairns is the extremely comprehensive public art map that has been made. This covers murals, sculptures, installations, and much, much more.
Mural by Fuzeillear at Anglicare North Queensland, Bunda Street.
What’ve We Missed??
I’m certain that there are many more towns and cities along the East Coast with street art that I didn’t happen to stumble upon while on my journey. If I’ve missed any, and you have a map of where to find it, and images that I can use, I will happily add it to the list and write up a dedicated, detailed article to accompany it…
Get in touch with me via Instagram: @stephanieob or @splatrsart.
