Louise Emberson will improve the management of street art and graffiti in the nation’s capital.

Some see it as vandalism, others as bonafide works of art. Wherever your personal preference, there’s no denying that street art is a part of urban living in Australia. To prevent defacements while encouraging emerging street artists, Louise Emberson has been appointed as Canberra’s new street art coordinator, a role that involves work with the local community to improve management of graffiti and street art in the ACT. Over the past ten years, Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) have facilitated the organisation of 23 legal graffiti sites in Canberra to create important proving grounds where budding street art talent can develop and experiment.

As part of the new role, Emberson and her team will create an interactive online map to detail site locations and provide information about the rules for those wishing to use the areas. “It’s important that people in the ACT know where the designated graffiti walls are, because they’re perfectly legal for anyone to go and practice and paint on,” she said in an interview with ABC.

This new appointment places Canberra at the forefront of Australia’s flourishing street art...