A newly-completed, massive mural at Pāpāmoa College is turning heads and celebrating the excellence and success of its students.

The vibrant artwork, spanning an impressive 7m by 35m on the exterior of the college gym, highlights the school’s new vision for the future of “Embracing opportunities; creating excellence”.

Pāpāmoa College principal Iva Ropati said he had long envisioned using the large blank space on the gym’s exterior to showcase a significant message.

“That message was our new vision for the future,” said Ropati, reflecting on the inspiration behind the artwork.

“Now that we had the perfect space, it got me thinking about an image that would best represent our vision.”

Local artist Alex McLeod, whose work spans large outdoor murals and signage across the Bay of Plenty and Waikato, was brought on board to bring the college’s vision to life.

Based in Pāpāmoa, McLeod had previously worked on signage for the school’s new buildings and was approached when the idea for a mural emerged.

“The concept was to highlight different aspects of the school, like culture and sports, using individual student photos, similar in style to the old All Blacks posters,” McLeod said.

After collaborating with professional photographer Alex Cairns for the shoot, McLeod took charge of art direction and post-production, blending the students’ images with a dramatic backdrop of Pāpāmoa Beach.

Ropati emphasised that the mural represents more than just visual appeal – it embodies the college’s ethos of students embracing opportunities with full commitment and striving for excellence in everything they do.

“Each of the students in the picture have come from all sorts of different backgrounds and been successful in their activity. We want kids to see themselves in the shoes of those individuals and in every area of the school.”

The new Pāpāmoa College gym mural. Photo / Supplied

The mural’s striking design, which catches the morning sun, was applied using high-performance vinyl and UV-laminated to ensure durability against Tauranga’s fluctuating weather conditions.

This marks McLeod’s largest project to date, surpassing his previous work, including a hand-painted mural at Mount Maunganui College in 2024.

With more than 50 murals and painted Chorus boxes across Tauranga and Waikato, McLeod is balancing his large-scale artistic projects with the growth of his signage business, DesignHub, which has recently expanded from a home-based operation to a commercial unit.

Ropati expressed pride in the community’s positive reception of the mural, saying: “It has added not just colour to a blank white boring gym wall but given a focus to why we are here as a school.

“What stands out is that we are a school full of young people’s success and the image anchors us to that reality by showing the wider community who pass by each day that we are proud of our students’ efforts, and they are and will always be front and centre of everything we do.”

Looking ahead, McLeod is eager to continue his partnership with the college, further contributing to the school’s creative vision.

“Alex’s work has been incredible,” Ropati said. “He has helped us with an idea that has created a profile of what is important to us, to the community.”