By Margie Maccoll
Artworks are revitalising Noosa Junction by transforming dreary laneways and dull walls into public art spaces, according to Noosa Junction’s Judi Lalor.
The latest addition began last week when artist Joel Birch was commissioned by storeowner Chloe Tozer to create murals on the laneway walls beside her Lanyana Way business.
Joel’s work already adorns the walls at the Junction with the mural at the rear of restaurant Village Bicycle included in his resume.
Chloe hopes the transformed laneway next to her shop CLO studios will become a space for “pop-up events”.
Street art in laneways is a growing trend in cities like Melbourne and Brisbane where public art is becoming a tourist attraction in its own right.
Noosa Junction’s Judi Lalor said the growing artistic flavour of the Junction was a reflection of the people that inhabited it.
“The Junction has such an eclectic group. It’s about bringing that out and showing it off,” she said.
“Everybody does it in different ways.”
Judi believes the Junction’s style provides tourists with a different aspect of Noosa.
“Hastings Street celebrates the beach and nature, and that makes it such a wonderful attraction,” she said.
“The Junction is very local. It’s where the locals go and sometimes that’s what people want when they go on holidays.”
Chloe was inspired to create a mural while rebuilding her shop CLO which was gutted by fire a few weeks ago.
While covered by insurance, Chloe said the loss had been devastating, but she aims to “come back bigger, better and stronger”.
She hopes to reopen CLO in six to eight weeks, and is even installing a fireplace in a show of courage against the fire that closed her down.
