Design and Art Australia Online

Entrepreneur and curator Tugi Balog started The May Lane Street Art Project in the laneways of St Peters, Sydney, to establish a safe space for street artists to create their works. In 2005 he offered the exterior walls of his framing business to local street artists as a canvas for their works.

May Lane has since attracted Australian and international street artists to the space and St Peters has been transformed into an outdoor gallery for street art. May Lane has featured a variety of street art styles including New York Graffiti, spray paint, paste ups and stencil.

In 2010 May Lane Arts Association Inc. partnered with Bathurst Regional Art Gallery to take the works of 25 of the May Lane featured artists on a tour across regional Australia. MAY’S: The May Lane Street Art Project gained funding from the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia touring grant.

The touring exhibition overcame the ephemeral nature of street art. Blank panels were installed in the recess of unused roller doors in May Lane, and after the artist worked on the wall, the panel could be removed for exhibition.

The tour started at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery in October 2010 and travelled to Artspace Mackay, Samstug Museum of Art, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Cockatoo Island, Gosford Regional Gallery, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Belconnen Arts Centre and Cairns Regional Gallery.