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Abstract murals, supersized portraits and vibrant panoramas are popping up around Brisbane amid preparations for a festival celebrating the city's street art talent.
The West End Street Art Festival has seen several buildings transformed with huge murals by local artists, from those just starting out to international names like Sofles.
Organisers Ihab Imam and Jenna Williams said the festival was a celebration of the melting pot of culture that typifies the suburb.
"West End is a real hub of subcultural activities musically, artistically, poetically, politically," Mr Imam said.
He said the plethora of spaces to paint in West End was a way to bring the work of Brisbane's street artists, both emerging and established, together.
"So many of these guys do stuff but it's in small, isolated areas — if you bring it all together, it's just got such gravity," he said.
Artists 'overrepresented' in homeless population
Ms Williams said the festival was also a chance to provide paid opportunities for emerging artists and highlight the link between street art and homelessness.
She and Mr Imam are aiming to raise $10,000 for Orange Sky Laundry, a charity providing assistance to homeless people across the country.
"The community doesn't always see a great deal of value in the arts so some people really struggle to make a crust from doing things they're really passionate about and are good at," Ms Williams said.
The issue came into focus in Melbourne last year, when alcoves used by homeless people for shelter in the famous Hosier Lane were boarded up by a local developer.
"A lot of the guys that were sleeping rough there at the time had actually done the artwork there," Ms Williams said.
"Artists are an overrepresented profession in the homeless population … we wanted to do something that was contributing to that issue in some way, which is why we picked Orange Sky Laundry."
Mr Imam said the festival was also a rare opportunity for the artists who worked commercially to express themselves however they chose to.
"When you get a commission you do what the commission asks — you don't get as much creative freedom as you'd like," he said.
"In this circumstance we've just said, 'You can do whatever you like', [and] what's come out of this has been really cool and fascinating."
Laneway to 'change here and there' over time
One laneway off Boundary Street was opened up as a "free-for-all" for artists and has come to life with colourful murals by artists including Sofles, RND creative, Reuben Stocks and SQUIDTANK, the alias of Shaun Campbell.
"I wanted to get my little Squiddy character out there — he's a fun guy to have around," Campbell said.
Mr Imam said the laneway would fill up and change over time.
"It's going to be an awesome tourist attraction and a lot of fun to see — it'll change here and there as things get added," he said.
The festival, which will also include an arts and design market and live music, will take place on October 22, with members of the public invited to watch the artists at work on the day.
Topics: street-art, arts-and-entertainment, events, human-interest, homelessness, community-and-society, west-end-4101, brisbane-4000