Northwood has recently reached a new height, with a group of students coming together over the summer to paint the first and only mural on campus. The creative minds behind the new swatches of color on Northwood’s walls are revealed through its inspiration, sketching and painting process.

The mural is seen in the athletic director’s office right next to the indoor gymnasium. The mural takes up the whole wall on the right when you first walk in, showing student athletes in Northwood colors, accompanied with immense detail.

“It took us about a month to begin painting the mural from when we’re told we were going to make one,” junior Arya Wategaonkar said. “During that month, we drafted different designs for the mural and each person pitched their own idea, then we settled on a design shortly after that.”

The mural is painted in a realism art style, depicting the 2022-23 sports captains with their numbers facing outward, leaning on one another. Each student represents a different sport, including football, volleyball, baseball, basketball and more.

“The inspiration for the mural came from a photo I found online, with soccer players standing together,” junior Kriti Laddha said. “To make it more Northwood-focused, we requested the yearbook staff to get a reference photo of the Northwood sports captains doing the same pose.”

The mural took three weeks to complete, with the painting process beginning early July and concluding early August.

“The painting process was actually surprisingly fast,” senior Kaylie Chao said. “Sketching took around three days, and then we originally set a full week for blocking colors, but started on details within the first three days of coloring.”

The new mural will not only hold the legacy of Northwood’s Class of 2023 sports captains, but will also highlight students’ ability to spark change within their own environment through their art and creativity.

“One thing I hope future Northwood students see from this is that they can try it too,” senior Audrey Li said. “It was really fun to paint, and I was able to use my talent to create something memorable.”