When the acclaimed American pop artist, Keith Haring, wanted to do a mural in Melbourne in 1984, he asked where the most "gritty" New York-style school was. Locals directed him to Collingwood Tech. So it was here, on a yellow background prepared by students, that he painted the green and red mural of bodies and technology that has beaten the odds to survive for almost 40 years.
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The piece was a turning point for the street art scene in Melbourne, and particularly for the rundown suburb of Collingwood. The area had fallen on rough times in the century since it was a busy commercial district during the Gold Rush.
"By the 1880s, they were basically calling it the 'Bourke Street of the suburbs', and people would come out to Collingwood on a day trip just to go shopping," explains Liam Gook, who shows people around the suburb on his Wayward Wanders tours.
I've come out with Liam to see a different side of Melbourne, away from the typical tourist areas like the CBD, Southbank, and St Kilda, to explore how Collingwood lost its sheen after those glory days, but has now emerged as one of the city's coolest suburbs.
As well as pointing out the new wine bars and microbreweries, he shows me the heritage that has been protected on the streets - vast red brick buildings that once housed enormous industrial operations, including a chocolate factory that covered five city blocks. (Did you know some Aussie favourites like the Cherry Ripe and Freddo Frogs were invented here?)
But amongst them are co-working spaces, hip design stores, and even a new shop offering tastings of premium hot sauces. It's not unusual to find such coolness in Melbourne, but for a long time it was more associated with somewhere like Brunswick Street, in the neighbouring inner-east suburb of Fitzroy.
"Fitzroy, I would say is probably about ten years ahead of Collingwood in terms of its development," Liam tells me. "So things that happened there 10 years ago, you maybe see here now."
Last year, Time Out magazine named Collingwood's Smith Street "the coolest street in the world". While I think that may be going a bit too far, it does show the attention that Collingwood is now getting from tourists, as much as locals. Cafes, restaurants, bars... rather than a day trip for shopping, it's now about a night trip for eating and drinking. But I'm glad I've come in the afternoon, because the sunlight is giving me a chance to explore one of the other cool aspects of the suburb - its street art.
From huge portraits that fill the side of houses, to small installations on the ground that you miss until they're almost underfoot, the pieces are expressive, challenging, even political. Keith Haring painted on a foundation of yellow... these artists are making the most of the foundation he gave the suburb. The most striking artwork of all is a 20-storey mural (the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere) by Matt Adnate on the side of a public housing estate, showing the faces of four of its residents. It's a reminder that the vibrant community here always shines through.
Just a hundred metres away is the old Collingwood Tech buildings, which have been converted into a new arts space called Collingwood Yards. As well as food, shops and events, there are dozens of small artist studios - some are always open to the public, and others can be visited by appointment.
Julia Gregg shows me around and I ask her how the space fits in with the story of Collingwood.
"We kind of accept our role as agents of gentrification, as well as pushing back against gentrification. So it's a very compromised fraught position," she laughs. But that's the way some of the best art movements end up positioning themselves, I guess.
An eight-storey hotel and luxury apartment block is going up right next door and that's the most visible sign of gentrification here. It may end up overshadowing Collingwood Yards literally, but Julia says it's important that kind of development doesn't do so figuratively.
"We feel almost beholden to say this space will not be monetised, we won't be having trade shows or that kind of thing. This will remain a place for community."
The best changes in Collingwood are creating a (new) sense of community. I pop into the small wine bar The Moon for a welcoming drink before going around the corner to Smith & Daughters, a vegan restaurant that's recently replanted itself here from Fitzroy. With red-brick walls and an open central kitchen, it's part heritage and part contemporary, with a wheat-based dish that tastes (and looks) like roast chicken, alongside blackened carrots and stuffed chard leaf.
For visitors to Melbourne, Collingwood offers everything you would expect from the alternative side of the city. In my mind, I try to equate it with Sydney suburbs like Surry Hills or Newton (funnily, Collingwood and Fitzroy were first known as Newtown), but it's not a fair comparison. It feels more relaxed and self-assured here - in a good way. There's plenty to see and do, and certainly lots to eat and drink, but its industrial heritage defines it as much as the recent influx of artists.
Michael Turtle was supported by Visit Victoria. You can see more things to do in Melbourne on his Travel Australia Today website.