Dunedin might be known for its Scottish heritage, historic architecture and wildlife, but there’s another side to the city that’s well worth seeking out – its street art.
I discovered the Dunedin street art almost by accident.
We had arrived at nearby Port Chalmers on a cruise ship, and as I disembarked I was handed a booklet about things to do in Dunedin. This was my second visit, and I’d already ticked off many of the city’s main attractions on my first trip.
As we travelled into the city, I was flicking through the booklet when something caught my eye – Dunedin had a street art trail.
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I have a bit of a thing for street art, so our plans for the day quickly changed.
At the time, there was a downloadable Dunedin Street Art Trail map showing many of the murals around the city.
I used it as a rough guide and spent about two hours wandering through the streets and laneways looking for them.
Along the way, I found works by both New Zealand and international artists, including huge murals covering entire buildings, smaller pieces tucked into laneways and plenty that weren’t marked on my map at all.
And that’s part of the fun.
A quick note before you start: street art is constantly changing. Murals are painted over, buildings are redeveloped and new works appear, so some of the pieces I saw may no longer be there.
Rather than treating this as a checklist, use this guide to help you explore the main street-art areas of Dunedin and see what you can find today.
The Dunedin Street Art
Here is some of the Dunedin street art that I found. I will include the location and artist if I know who it is.
Ed Sheeran
One of the easiest Dunedin murals to find is the Ed Sheeran mural on Bath Street, just off The Octagon.
Local artist Tyler Kennedy Stent painted the watercolour-style portrait in 2018, ahead of Ed Sheeran playing three concerts at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium.
The mural attracted plenty of attention when it appeared, but it has stuck around and become something of a Dunedin landmark.
In fact, when I last updated this post in 2024 there was talk that it might soon be painted over. Two years later, it’s still there – although street art really can change overnight.
In September 2026, just days before this update, the mural itself made the news after someone added graffiti to it.
So what you see when you visit may be a little different from my photo!
ROA’s Tuatara
While you’re on Bath Street, don’t make the same mistake I did.
Right next to the Ed Sheeran mural is a huge black-and-white tuatara by Belgian street artist ROA.
It was one of the early commissioned murals that helped kick-start Dunedin’s street-art scene, and it’s still listed as part of the trail today.
And somehow, I completely missed it!
I think I was so distracted by Ed Sheeran that I simply wasn’t looking for another mural. It’s particularly ridiculous when you see how big the tuatara is.
So when you visit Bath Street, remember to look around rather than doing what I did and walking straight past one of Dunedin’s best-known pieces of street art.
Take the Leap
Almost directly opposite the entrance to the First Church of Otago, on Moray Place, I came across a mural that wasn’t marked on the street art map I was using.
Luckily, there was a plaque beside it telling me exactly what I’d found.
Called Take the Leap, the mural was painted in January 2018 by Dunedin artists Aroha Novak and Guy Howard-Smith. It depicts children jumping and playing among autumn leaves.
This was one of those pieces I probably wouldn’t have found if I’d simply followed the map, which is another good reason to keep your eyes open as you walk around Dunedin.
Annabel
Over on Vogel Street you’ll find Annabel, one of the early major works in Dunedin’s street art project.
Painted by local artist Jon Thom, the large black-and-white portrait is at 8 Vogel Street, not far from the intersection with Rattray Street.
Annabel was Thom’s first mural, and the smiling face makes this one particularly hard to miss.
Festival Wall
Continue along Vogel Street and there’s even more street art to discover.
In a car park near the corner of Vogel and Water Streets, I found this wall covered with works by several different artists, each with their own distinctive style.
The wall was created as part of Dunedin’s early street art festivals, with work beginning in 2014 and continuing into 2015.
It’s quite different from some of the huge single murals around the city and is a good example of the variety you’ll find while exploring the street art trail.
Maori Waka & Steampunk Submarine
As I continued along Vogel Street, I started noticing several murals that were clearly by the same artist.
At the time I assumed they were the work of someone local, but I later discovered the distinctive black-and-white style belongs to British street artist Phlegm.
One of his most impressive Dunedin works is Māori Waka & Steampunk Submarine, which was inspired by Otago’s history.
You’ll find it on Vogel Street, on the side of the building that was home to Vogel Street Kitchen when I visited.
Once you’ve found it, keep exploring around the back of the building. I found several more pieces of street art tucked away there.
When I visited, cars were squeezed into the tight space, making a couple of the murals almost impossible to photograph – one of the hazards of hunting for street art in working city streets!
Under the Bridge
Not everything I found was included on the street art map.
Under the road bridge where Jetty Street crosses Vogel Street, I came across another piece while simply wandering around.
That became one of my favourite parts of exploring Dunedin’s street art. The map pointed me towards the major works, but there was always the chance of finding something unexpected along the way.
Sean Duffell – Jetty Street
Nearby, there was another large mural covering the side of a building on Jetty Street, tucked down a narrow laneway between Vogel Street and Crawford Street.
This one is by Dunedin artist Sean Duffell, whose detailed work featuring birds and plants can be found in several places around New Zealand.
Love is in the Air
One of the murals I saw during my visit was Love is in the Air by Polish artist Natalia Rak.
The colourful mural was on the side of a building on Bond Street and showed a woman surrounded by flowers.
Unfortunately, this is one you can no longer go looking for. The mural has since been painted over and the wall is now blank.
I’m leaving it here because it was part of the Dunedin street art trail when I visited – and it’s a good reminder of just how temporary street art can be.
Nearby I found this striking two-storey mural by Argentine artist Hyuro, painted in 2015.
Hyuro’s work often explored social issues and the way people interact with public spaces, and the location of this mural was particularly relevant. I
t sits between Dunedin’s historic Exchange and Warehouse Precinct, areas that had declined over the years and were being rejuvenated when the mural was created.
Hyuro, whose real name was Tamara Djurovic, created murals around the world before her death in 2020.
We’re All In This Together
Continue along Bond Street and look for the alleyway running alongside the building.
This is where I found We’re All In This Together, created by New Zealand artist Cracked Ink in late 2019.
Rather than a single mural, there was artwork covering walls and even garage doors throughout the alleyway, so make sure you wander all the way through rather than just looking from the street.
These two are decorating a garage door in the alleyway.
Chasing Waterfalls
Also in this area is Chasing Waterfalls, a collaboration between Canadian artist Emmanuel Jarus and Belgian artist Caratoes.
Keep exploring the alleyway and you’ll find even more artwork. When I visited, there was a piece by Deow.1, along with two works by Australian artist Be Free.
This is one of those spots where it pays to slow down and look around – there was street art tucked into almost every available space.
Riding Dreams
On the corner of Princes Street and Jetty Street is one of the most striking murals I found in Dunedin.
Called Riding Dreams, it was created by Italian artist Pixel Pancho, who is known for his distinctive paintings of robots and mechanical creatures.
This huge mural features a child riding a mechanical horse, and once you’ve seen some of Pixel Pancho’s other work, his style becomes very recognisable.
Phlegm and Pixel Pancho Collaboration
Not far away, tucked down a laneway off Stafford Street near Princes Street, is another huge mural – this time a collaboration between Pixel Pancho and Phlegm.
When I first saw it, I assumed it was another Phlegm mural because by this point I was starting to recognise his distinctive black-and-white style.
But look more closely and you can see both artists at work.
Phlegm’s intricate monochrome characters dominate the lower part of the mural, while Pixel Pancho’s mechanical style appears above.
Seeing works by the same artists in different parts of Dunedin was one of the things I enjoyed most about following the street art trail.
By the end of my walk, I was starting to recognise some of the artists before I even knew who had painted them.
Geeky Gecko Laneway
A little further along Stafford Street, I found another cluster of street art tucked between the buildings.
At the time, the easiest way to find it was to look for the laneway beside the Geeky Gecko Backpackers, which led through to a car park behind the buildings.
There were several smaller works here rather than one huge mural, including pieces by Danae and Shinx.
This is another good example of why it’s worth poking your head into Dunedin’s laneways as you explore. Some of the most interesting pieces I found weren’t the huge murals visible from the main streets.
This one is by Danae
The below is signed by Shinx
Song Bird Pipe Organ
From the car park behind the former Geeky Gecko Backpackers, I could also see another unmistakable work by Phlegm.
Called Song Bird Pipe Organ, the mural features one of Phlegm’s wonderfully strange characters operating an elaborate contraption containing birds and musical pipes.
You can also see the mural from Manse Street, where it covers the side of a building.
By this stage of my walk I’d seen enough of Phlegm’s work that I could recognise his distinctive style immediately – and there was still more to come.
More Street Art on Stafford Street
Continuing down Stafford Street away from Manse Street, I found another laneway on the right with artwork on both sides.
One piece was by René Brink, but what caught my attention here wasn’t just the main mural. The surrounding walls were covered with smaller stickers, posters and other pieces of street art, some of which were clever and interesting in their own right.
On the opposite side of the alley was another colourful piece by Wellington artist Mica Still.
It’s easy to concentrate on Dunedin’s enormous murals, but these smaller collections were part of what made wandering around the city so much fun.
Haast’s Eagle
A little further down Stafford Street, I found this huge eagle painted on the side of a building.
It’s the work of Chinese-born artist DALeast and represents Haast’s eagle, an enormous bird of prey that once lived in New Zealand.
Haast’s eagle is now extinct, but it was the largest known eagle in the world and was big and powerful enough to hunt moa.
I love that this mural isn’t just impressive to look at – it also has a connection to New Zealand’s natural history.
More Stafford Street Laneways
Back on the other side of Stafford Street was yet another laneway filled with street art.
One of the pieces I found here was by Tom Tom, while another at the end of the alley was by Melbourne artist Snotrag.
This first one is done by the artist Tom Tom.
This one is by Snotrag.
By this point, following the Dunedin street art trail had become as much about exploring the laneways as finding the murals themselves. I kept spotting artwork that hadn’t been on the map I was using.
Beth Moody Mural
Another mural I stumbled across rather than deliberately looking for was this one by Beth Moody.
When I visited, it was on the side of a medical centre near the corner of Broadway and High Street.
This was another piece that wasn’t marked on my street art map – proof again that you don’t need to follow the official trail too closely.
Some of my finds simply came from wandering around and seeing what was around the next corner.
When the Hunter Becomes the Hunted
Walk around to the car park behind the same building and you’ll find a much larger mural taking up an entire wall.
Called When the Hunter Becomes the Hunted, it was painted by Polish artist Bezt in 2015, when he came to Dunedin to create this impressive large-scale work.
Bezt’s realistic style makes it quite different from many of the other works I’d seen around Dunedin.
On the opposite side of the car park, I also found a wall decorated by Jacob Yikes, a New Zealand artist known for his colourful, surreal work.
More Murals Around Rattray Street
Walking through the car park towards Rattray Street revealed even more street art.
One of the pieces I found was by Mahalski, while another large mural nearby appeared to be a collaboration between several artists.
When I visited, temporary fencing made this one difficult to get close to, so I could only photograph it from a distance.
Chasing the Thin White Cloud
The standout mural in this area for me was Chasing the Thin White Cloud by Australian artist Fintan Magee.
Magee has created large-scale murals around the world, and this one covers the side of a building with a figure surrounded by clouds.
There’s also a girl painted on the side of the building, so make sure you walk around it rather than viewing the mural from just one direction.
Nearby is another mural by Stickum, the collaborative name used by Dunedin artists Guy Howard-Smith and Aroha Novak.
The work represents the diversity of the people who settled in Dunedin and can be found around the corner of Broadway and Rattray Street.
By now, you’ll probably have noticed the same thing I did – once you start looking for street art in Dunedin, it seems to be everywhere.
Street Art Around Moray Place
There’s still plenty more to find as you make your way back towards the centre of Dunedin.
On Moray Place, not far from Princes Street, I found birds covering the walls and ceiling of a small alleyway.
I couldn’t find an artist’s name and it wasn’t marked on the street art map I was using, but it caught my attention as I walked past.
Almost directly across Moray Place, look inside another covered driveway leading to a car park.
Here I found yet another work by Phlegm, instantly recognisable by this point thanks to his distinctive black-and-white style.
Continue along Moray Place and there are more murals to discover, including a work by Suki.
Phlegm’s Moa
And then there’s another huge Phlegm mural – this time featuring a moa.
By this stage I didn’t need a map to tell me who the artist was. After seeing several of Phlegm’s works around Dunedin, his incredibly detailed style had become instantly recognisable.
Seeing so much of his work in one city also made me curious about what else he had created around the world.
It’s one of the things I love about street art – discover an artist while travelling and suddenly you start recognising their work in other places too.
Stuart Street Street Art
Between The Octagon and Dunedin Railway Station, I spotted another piece of street art in the entrance to a car park on Stuart Street.
I wasn’t able to identify the artist when I visited, so this was another unexpected find rather than one I had been specifically looking for.
Even the Electrical Boxes Have Art
It’s not only Dunedin’s walls and laneways that are covered in art.
Keep an eye on the smaller details as you walk around the city too. I found decorated electrical boxes on the corner of Princes Street and Jetty Street, near Pixel Pancho’s Riding Dreams mural.
They’re easy to walk straight past when you’re searching for the huge murals, but smaller pieces like these are all part of Dunedin’s street art scene.
And by this point in my walk, I’d learnt that the best way to find the street art was simply to keep looking everywhere.
Is the Dunedin Street Art Trail Worth Doing?
Absolutely. Even if street art isn’t the main reason you’re visiting Dunedin, it’s an easy way to see a different side of the city.
We spent about two hours walking around looking for street art, while also checking out a few other sights along the way.
You could easily spend longer if you wanted to track down as many murals as possible, or simply look for a few while exploring the city centre.
For me, half the fun was finding the unexpected pieces – murals tucked down laneways, decorated electrical boxes and artwork that wasn’t marked on the map I was using at all.
And remember, the Dunedin street art scene is constantly changing. Some of the murals I photographed have disappeared, others may look different now, and new ones will have appeared since my visit.
So don’t worry too much about ticking every mural off a list. Use this guide as a starting point, wander down those laneways and keep your eyes open.
You never know what you’ll find.
If you would like to read about more street art, take a look at these posts
Port Adelaide Street Art
Hobart Street Art
Free Things to Do in Melbourne
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