Leah Grant brings colour and creativity to classrooms

A GEELONG artist is leaving a colourful mark on local schools, one mural at a time.

As the 2025 school year drew to a close, Leah Grant brought bursts of colour and creativity to Lara Lake Primary, Mandama Primary and Geelong Lutheran College, completing three large-scale murals across the final weeks of term.

The eye-catching works were created as part of a community give-back initiative, offering a visual lift for students and teachers as they pushed through the final stretch of the school year.

Grant said she was blown away by the reactions she received while working on-site, with the murals quickly becoming a talking point at each school.

“I always love working with students and working in schools,” she said.

“I had some students just so excited when it was just painted a plain background colour. I’m like this is just boring, there’s going to be more!

“It was just really sweet, even the teachers were blown away by how much the kids were responding to it.

Grant, who relocated from Adelaide to Geelong in 2024, said the project also served as a way to build connections in her new home town.

“It was great to be able to actually be in some of the schools here,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of grey walls in schools and in the city and I see a lot of potential for colour and inspiration and just vibrancy that I think Geelong needs on a winter’s day.”

Grant hopes her murals encourage students to embrace creativity and to see the arts as a viable future pathway.

“There’s two main things I want kids to see,” she said. “First, that the arts is a sustainable career and that we need to value arts and that it’s something they can do when they grow up.

“It’s an awesome industry and it will only continue to thrive if we value other artists and pay artists what they’re worth.

“The second thing is just to be creative, and make and draw and play and experiment.”