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about the blender.

The Blender Studios is a renowned art complex with art studios at its core.

Founded in 2001, the studios have evolved alongside the urban art movement in Melbourne and currently hosts 24+ resident artists. Blender Studios is not only a hub for both street artists and fine artists, but it is also the HQ of Melbourne Street Tours, Dark Horse Experiment,

The Blender Loft, and Blender Creatives. 

You can visit our studios on a tour, workshop, or at one of our special events. 


Now located in West Melbourne on Dudley St, the original home of Blender was on Franklin St.

To find out more about the early days and previous artists of Blender, click below.  

Blender Studios interior, view of Casey Freeman studio

studio philosophy.

There are two key aspects to Blender that make it what it is today.

 

  • The first is the open studio plan, whereby all studios are open to the communal space. 

  • The second is the requirement that all resident artists work hard and are active in their use of the space (ie. not a storage space). 
     

There has always been a heavy research influence at the Blender, with lots of discussions and constructive criticism. This comes from the shared spaces and natural interactions between artists. 
 

Over the years there have been artists working across a diverse variety of mediums. Many of whom have achieved major critical success in their research and practice. This is true for both the fine artists that work here and the street artists, truly blending across art forms and ideas making it a unique and creative environment.

Blender Studios exterior street art in Maloney Lane

street art.

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In 2001 the Blender Studios became a major centre for the emerging Melbourne street art scene. As the USA invaded Iraq, so too, did many of the Blender artists, invade the streets of Melbourne. Since the early days, Blender has been a hub of the street art movement with many of the most prolific street artists either calling the Blender home or using it as a base to colour in the city.

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Street artist who have been closely associated with the Blender Studios:

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  • Nu-Rock

  • Civil

  • Tom Bone

  • Vexta

  • Rone

 

 

There has always been a blend of street artists and research based artists, and this has had an extraordinary influence on the development of urban art in Melbourne. Through Blender, street artists began to consider context, form and concept, whilst the other artists at the studio had a chance to play with an immediate and ephemeral art form, changing the course of their practice. 

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In 2003, the first stencil gallery was opened. Run by Blender resident artists Regan Tamanui and Dan Sibley, the Early Independence Space (EIS) was run above the Kent Street Cafe in Smith Street. This art space was closely linked to Blender and gave many successful artists their first break.


The studio still has a strong link to street art, and continues to foster up and coming street artists in the studios, and through mural and commission opportunities. 

  • Six Ten

  • Prizm

  • Drew Funk

  • A1one

  • Reka

  • Dlux

  • Phibs

  • HA-HA

  • Makatron

  • Reks

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