At just six, little Arden Watson-Cropley is well on his way to becoming "Fitzroy famous".

Key points: The 20-storey mural is the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere

The 20-storey mural is the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere Artist Matt Adnate hopes the artwork brings pride to residents of the housing flats

Artist Matt Adnate hopes the artwork brings pride to residents of the housing flats The work follows widespread success of silo art across Australia

The grade one student's face is hard to miss as it stares out towards the city, painted across multiple levels of the Collingwood public housing block where he lives.

The 20-storey mural is the tallest ever painted on a building in the Southern Hemisphere, and once completed, will feature the faces of four residents who hail from three continents.

Looking down from above Arden is Badria Abdo, an Oromo woman from Ethiopia, who arrived in Australia in 2006 after more than seven years in a Kenyan refugee camp.

"When I saw my picture here I was very excited, I'm very happy," she said.

Badria Abdo is one of four residents whose portraits will feature on the finished mural. ( ABC News )

Instilling pride and reminding the wider community that real people live in the often maligned buildings is key to the project's success, which has been created by local artist Matt Adnate.

He was commissioned by street art collective Juddy Roller, the group behind the popular Silo Art trail in regional Victoria, to paint the imposing work, which dominates the skyline as people head north from the city along Wellington Street.

Adnate grew up nearby and painting the towers, which are home to hundreds of people, was a dream.

"I want everyone to feel like everyone can actually see themselves in the painting and get a sense of pride and ownership from the mural," he said.

Artist Matt Adnate uses a swing stage to work on the mural. ( ABC News )

H-block-style public housing towers — built more than 50 years ago — are scattered across inner Melbourne including in Prahran, Fitzroy, Richmond and South Melbourne.

"I see every building as a beautiful canvas. There are so many of these buildings scattered throughout Melbourne, it's a great way for them to be re-imagined," Adnate said.

The work is due to be finished this month — the artist has been delayed by the birth of his first child this week — but already passers-by are stopping and soaking it in.

A young Vietnamese girl will also be painted on the building, as well as a man from West Papua in Indonesia who has been in Australia for just over a year.

Arden's high-profile portrait has been a topic of conversation in the schoolyard. ( ABC News: Dylan Anderson )

The community is bursting with pride, Arden's mum Liz Watson said.

"No one can walk past his mural without smiling," she said.

"It just really lifts everyone's spirit."

Six-year-old celebrates being 'Fitzroy famous'

For Arden, the new-found fame isn't going to his head, and he thinks some of his classmates might be a little jealous.

"I'm very, very excited because all my friends know about it," he said.

"It looks like they're jealous, but I'm not sure they are talking about [it] to me."

His friends call him "Fitzroy famous".

Subjects were selected after photos were taken at the local community centre.

The State Government has kicked in $150,000 through an art grant for the project.

Local MP Richard Wynne, now the Planning Minister but formerly in charge of housing, said the works should serve as reminder to the role public housing plays.

"It's about celebrating pride in place and we want to really ensure that we remember just how important public housing is in the lives of people doing it tough," Mr Wynne said.