A MURAL has been painted at a Deer Park shopping centre to help prevent graffiti and tagging.
Eight young residents, under the guidance of mentor Marcus Diaz, spent five days creating the artwork at Brimbank Shopping Centre.
The mural stands at around 30 metres in length and runs along the wall of an undercover car park at the shopping centre.
The mural came about after a discussion between the centre and Brimbank Youth Services concerning the issue of graffiti within the community.
The Brimbank Youth Services’ Street Art program, which has been running for the past two years, consulted with young people to come up with the idea for the mural.
The Brimbank Shopping Centre manager, Pearse Coleman, said the mural was a great chance for youth to show off their skills to the public.
“The mural was an engaging opportunity for young people from the local community to use their creative skills in a more constructive way,” Mr Cole said.
“It has been a great inclusion to the car park and has transformed what was a bland concrete wall into a piece of art that represents youth culture and the city they live in.”
Brimbank City Council’s spends around $210,000 of ratepayer’s money on graffiti removal every year.
