Just over a month after it was almost destroyed in a graffiti attack, the iconic ‘Welcome to Spotswood’ sign has been restored to (most of) its former glory.
Approximately half of the sign, including much of the lettering, was covered in graffiti when vandals attacked in early December.
Local Spotswood artist and business owner Tony Mead hand-painted the sign on the water tank on the corner of Booker Street and Hudsons Road during the pandemic.
The phone call he received from a local resident informing him that the sign had been attacked, was one he’d been dreading ever since.
“When you have work out in the public spaces you always have a background fear that it will get graffitied at some point,” Mead said.
Unfortunately, the extent of the attack was even worse than Mead had feared.
“I was really shocked and thought it might mark the end of this mural after five years,” he said.
Fortunately, having helped fund the sign in the first place, Hobsons Bay council offered Mead the use of its graffiti removal team to restore it.
Combined with Mead’s knowledge of the paint types used for the sign, they were able to find materials and methods to remove about 90 per cent of the graffiti.
However, Mead credits the anti-graffiti coating he applied when painting the sign as the main reason it was able to be saved.
“Without this protective barrier the spray paint would have bonded to the artwork and made removal impossible.”
