In the name of STREAT art

My first day at STREAT as a Marketing and Communications volunteer was nothing less than an adventure! 

The task: To visit Melbourne street artists with illusive names creating art in secret locations in order to collect generously donated art works for the launch of STREAT Cart 2 (it sounds like a Hollywood blockbuster but I can assure you it was more than that). 

The explorers: Sunisa, head of STREAT’s Marketing and Communications team and her trusty accomplice Beck, both risking hours out-of-the-office to find artistic works. But hey, someone’s gotta do it!

The outcome: We zig-zagged through the lane-ways of Melbourne, stopping briefly for a much needed coffee. We continued on to our destination - a lane enclave covered with stencils, murals, stickers and the like. 

We climbed through a door half the size of us when I couldn’t help but think I was on the set of Willy Wonka. However unlike Wonka, there was no wall of fruit stickers to lick, though I was tempted to suggest it. Instead, the humble bustle of Blender Studios, off Franklin Street, where some artists – Drewfunk, Ha Ha, Adi-- generously donate their art works to help out organisations such as STREAT. 

The artist we were after, Drewfunk, informed us that the signs we were to pick up were not all complete so he invited us to ‘hang’ which we found quite a privilege. We got to witness a well-respected street artist at work, yay! When the artworks were pronounced dry we proudly carried them across the city to the STREAT office where an eruption of oo’s and ahh’s meant the artworks were most appreciated and loved!

If day one is anything to go by, volunteering at STREAT will require me to be super fit but it‘s definitely worth it.