Senior and workshop staff member Juliana Morris stands by her 2025 Leadership Workshop theme painting, “A Mosaic of Visions” on March 1, 2025, at 4-H Wakefield, Va. The theme painting was presented during Heritage on the Saturday night of Leadership Workshop. “[It was] a grounding moment, particularly for the staff. It was so touching to see our work for the past few months presented in front of everyone,” Eleanor said.

“I got emotional. I was so proud of Juliana, and I was even tearing up. I see the message as every individual aspect that makes up a community, and without each piece, the community wouldn’t be whole,” junior and workshop staff member Eleanor Strader said.

One month was spent intricately crafting the mosaic that would be revealed to the delegates of Leadership Workshop 2025. 

This year’s workshop theme was “A Mosaic of Visions,” which was brought to life through senior Juliana Morris’ artwork.

“Juliana is incredibly talented with her artwork,” Leadership Workshop advisor Reece Benzel said. “Additionally, through conversations with her, we knew she understood the true meaning of Leadership Workshop and could easily tie in our perspectives into her artwork.” 

Juliana took art all four years of high school, and has gained a fond appreciation for teachers Lindsey Roberts and Abbigail Sullivan, who she credits for her improvement of technical skills over the years.

For Juliana, this year’s theme represents the meaning of workshop: people from Ocean Lakes, each with their own stories and backgrounds, coming together for this weekend of leadership.

“The use of a mosaic style was a true interpretation of the theme, ‘A Mosaic of Visions,’” Eleanor said, who believes the true beauty of the painting lies in the meaningful details Juliana added to personalize the piece.

Although many delegates reported her work as “effortlessly beautiful,” according to Juliana, there were several roadblocks she faced when creating the idyllic mosaic.

She created an initial sketch, but struggled to maintain imagery in certain areas, so she reached out to Benzel and the other workshop advisors Joanna Buonviri and Christina Barnhart, who guided her vision to capture the essence of all the theme entails.

“Their input is why I added the lighthouse, a symbol that reminds Benzel of workshop, and the campfire and woods to represent our time at 4H. The rest of the design, [however;], I came up with on my own since the theme board is kept as a surprise for the rest of the staff and is revealed right before we leave for workshop,” Juliana said.

To create the special mosaic effect, she used acrylic paint and layered a black paint marker on top of it.

“I was excited to contribute something that is so important to workshop, but was also nervous. Last year’s theme board, in my opinion, was extremely well done, so I feel like I had a high bar to meet,” Juliana said.

Not only was she gifted the opportunity to interpret the theme and present it in her own way, but so were the delegates.  

Each delegate had the opportunity to create their own piece of a mosaic for this year’s workshop service project that will be showcased in the halls of Ocean Lakes.

For Eleanor, the lighthouse from Juliana’s painting stood out to her the most because of its prominence and symbolism.

“To me, a lighthouse is a symbol of workshop and community. The prominence of it, being so large, caught my attention. I think it’s a great pictorial representation of our community,” Eleanor said.

Students had the freedom to respond to different prompts that focused on service, kindness and leadership, allowing them to express their reflection uniquely with words, designs or drawings.

“This is only my fourth leadership workshop at OLHS, and I would have to say Juliana’s piece was a special one,” Benzel said. “We discussed different elements that reminded us of Leadership Workshop as a whole and she was able to tie them all into her painting.”

The artists for the yearly workshop theme paintings vary based on artistic ability of the staff. The advisors prefer to select a student staff member to paint it, but they are open to outsourcing if needed. 

“Alternative ways of expressing yourself, such as art, allow for a deeper interpretation of thoughts and perspectives,” Benzel said. “We hope it allows them to form a deeper connection to their experience at Leadership Workshop and encourage them to take back what they have learned to school.”