Women Sharing Art, Inc. (WSA), a not-for-profit corporation founded in 2008, received one of 24 Best in Show awards for its mixed-media piece, Facing Diversity.

It was chosen out of 200 submissions at Embracing Our Differences (EOD-LI), an outdoor exhibition held at Suffolk Community College's Brentwood Campus on Oct. 28. The EOD-LI exhibition also has related programs aimed at illustrating that diversity and respect for each other's differences.

Fifteen of the exhibition's 24 pieces, including Facing Diversity, have been moved to the front lawn of South Ocean Middle School in Patchogue. Paul Pontieri, the Patchogue mayor, attended the EOD-LI awards ceremony at Suffolk Community College with South Ocean Middle School Principal Linda Pickford.

She and the mayor were responsible for bringing this exhibit to Patchogue. It serves as a tangible reminder of the town's dedication to art and tolerance, and its commitment to understanding, embracing and learning from each another's differences.

Thirteen of the 24 members of WSA came to the middle school for a photo shoot on Nov. 6. WSA is an assemblage of local Long Island women who wanted to "Share Energy and Explore Artistic Passions."

Photographer Sue Miller pioneered WSA with a vision to establish a forum conducive to authentic artistic expression for women of all ages and backgrounds to come together and delve deeply into the wellspring of their innate creativity.

Facing Diversity uses watercolor, photography, oils, mosaic glass, fused glass, fiber art, batik, acrylics, collage, pastels and beadwork, all thoughtfully and strategically fused to produce one cohesive unit. It's designed to represents the many faces of the sacred femininity expressing itself through powerful emotion in everyday life, encircled and entwined by a vortex of energy.

It took about 60 hours from design to completion. Upon selection by the EOD-LI, the original piece was enlarged to 4 feet by 3 feet for reproduction onto a Mylar billboard. It will now travel with the other selections to outdoor exhibits at various sites throughout the year.

During the brainstorming phase for the celebrated work, members of WSA were asked to bring in an interpretation of a facial expression, leaving it up to the individual artist to choose which to highlight.

"No matter what culture, whether third-world or industrialized nation, we can all understand facial expression. That connectivity is expressed in this piece," said Julianna Kirk, who lent her glass art to the project to impart a three-dimensional quality.

Aida Wojcik, an artist adept at oils and acrylics, gave shape to her interpretation of the emotion of terror. "It just came out," she said, remarking that she gained a lot of insight from working on the project, as well as a sense of being needed. "I like to learn about people, and I think I did in the process."

Dawn Schabner, also working in oils and acrylics, contributed to the piece, as well. "In other groups there were always egos getting in the way, [but] not in this group," she noted.

The women, who call themselves "sisters," got to know one another so intimately during the sometimes messy, but always rewarding collaborative creative process that they not only at times finish each other's work, but also each other's sentences.

"We are truly women sharing art," concluded Miller.