The Power of Vision: 2025 Mosaic Event Inspires Nearly 500 West Michigan Students
Nearly 500 students from across West Michigan gathered at Celebration Cinema North on November 6 for the 2025 Mosaic Event. Now in its 14th year, this high-energy, immersive day of creativity, technology, and career inspiration offers students access to industry-leading professionals and interactive workshops. This year’s theme, “The Power of Vision,” invited students to imagine how bold ideas and storytelling can shape not only their futures, but the world.
From big-screen concept art to hands-on workshops, the Mosaic Event provided students with opportunities to connect their classroom learning to real-world careers in media, digital technology, and the arts.
Creative Keynotes Lit Up the Room
The 2025 Mosaic Event featured three powerful keynote speakers from 9B Collective, the first Black-owned concept art studio made up primarily of BIPOC artists. Each presenter brought passion, truth, and inspiration to the students:
Aldis Hodge (Los Angeles), award-winning actor (Black Adam, One Night in Miami…, Hidden Figures) and a co-founder of 9B Collective, surprised attendees with a personal video message from London.
Phillip Boutte Jr. (Los Angeles), a costume illustrator and concept artist whose credits include Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Blue Beetle, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Inception, and The Hunger Games, gave students a behind-the-scenes look at how visual storytelling drives blockbuster films. He emphasized the importance of research, collaboration, and learning the “jobs behind the job.”
Joshua Leonard (Atlanta), a nationally recognized character designer and creator of the original animated series Team Supreme, encouraged students to create the stories they want to see in the world. His inclusive superhero universe – featuring characters with autism, deafness, blindness, and more – inspired the students to embrace diversity and representation as creative superpowers.
Barry Brown Jr. (Dallas), an illustrator and concept artist with credits including Wicked and Marvel’s What If…?, shared how consistency, not just talent, shaped his creative journey. From learning the fundamentals to managing imposter syndrome, Barry reminded students that showing up – even when it’s hard – is the real key to unlocking their potential.
Workshops That Brought Learning to Life
In addition to the keynote sessions, students participated in interactive workshops led by local professionals from across the region. Each hands-on session gave students a chance to explore creative skills and digital tools that are shaping the future of work:
Artificial Intelligence with Atomic Object and Code on Wheels
Filmmaking with GRTV
Podcasting with WYCE
Storytelling and Student Voice with GVSU REP4
Personal Branding with Young Money Finances
Improv & Performance with The Comedy Project GR and Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
These sessions helped students connect their passions to future careers and sparked ideas for how they might use their own voices and vision to make an impact.
Spotlight on Student Storytelling: Nourishing Narratives
The Mosaic Event also featured an update on Nourishing Narratives, a national mobile film competition developed by Mosaic Film Experience in collaboration with Newman’s Own Foundation. Designed to amplify youth voices around food justice, the competition invited students ages 10–18 across the country to create short films using only their mobile devices. Mosaic Film Experience Founder and President Skot Welch shared how the initiative is helping students connect creativity with social impact, using storytelling to explore topics like access to healthy food and community impact.
Grand Rapids City High student winners Daniel Ewer and Caleb Jesse took the stage to reflect on their experience and introduce their award-winning short film, “Apples,” which was screened for the audience. The project exemplifies The Power of Vision by showing how young filmmakers can use technology, imagination, and purpose-driven storytelling to inspire change on a national scale.
Lifting Student Voices Through Living Histories
The Mosaic Event also celebrated the impact of Mosaic Film Experience’s Living Histories Summer Program, a hands-on, six-week filmmaking intensive made possible through support from Sony. Mosaic Film Experience Programming and Education Manager Elizabeth Merriman shared how the program brought together 11 high school students from across West Michigan, representing a wide range of grade levels and storytelling experience, to learn the fundamentals of filmmaking while creating an original documentary. With guidance from area professional mentors in video, sound, and editing, students conducted interviews with local elders from diverse backgrounds, gaining both technical skills and powerful lessons in intergenerational storytelling.
One of the program participants, East Kentwood High School alumna Nuha Hussein, took to the stage to reflect on her experience, noting the long-lasting connections she had built with peers and mentors, and how the program had given her the confidence and tools to continue pursuing creative opportunities, even in her first year of college. Students and guests were then treated to a screening of the official Living Histories trailer, showcasing the collaboration, growth, and powerful narratives that emerged from the summer program.
The Mosaic Event wouldn’t be possible without the incredible network of educators, partners, volunteers, and sponsors who support our mission to empower youth through storytelling. Your commitment helps students see what’s possible and helps them envision a future that reflects their talents, voices, and dreams. Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2025 Mosaic Event. Together, we are building a future where every student has the confidence and the tools to tell their story and excel in whatever career field they choose.