Wading River School unveils Wild About Reading mosaic with student art

A new mosaic at Wading River School is doing more than brightening a courtyard. It is putting student art at the center of a school space built around literacy, creativity and pride, with several children’s original animal drawings incorporated into the finished installation.

Elementary students marked the project’s completion with a dedication ceremony in the library courtyard on June 11, where the Shoreham-Wading River Central School District said students and staff gathered to thank the people who helped bring Wild About Reading to life. The colorful mosaic was created through a partnership with Artist in Residence Joshua Winer, whose work in murals, mosaics and public art spans more than 20 years and includes school projects.

The district invited students to submit original animal drawings for the project, tying the artwork directly to the reading theme. Several designs were selected and woven into the final mosaic, giving the installation a student-made element that will remain visible in the building long after the ceremony ended. By placing the piece in the library courtyard, the school linked visual art with reading in a space where children already gather around books and learning.

Wading River School is the easternmost school in the Shoreham-Wading River district and the only one located in the town of Riverhead. The one-level building sits on 9.6 acres and currently serves more than 400 students in grades 3 through 5, making the mosaic a daily fixture for a sizeable elementary community in Suffolk County.

The district has used Winer before on campus art, and that history helps frame the new project as part of a larger approach to shaping school identity through shared creative work. A 2022 district presentation described a tile mosaic project with Winer as a multi-year effort involving children, staff, parents and the community. A prior district story about another Wading River School mural said the planning, creation and installation reflected Principal Lou Parrinello’s philosophy, “Let’s Make It a Great Day!”

Taken together, the projects show a school using art as place-making. At Wading River, the mosaic is not just decoration. It is a public marker of student ownership, a celebration of reading, and a sign that the school’s shared spaces are being built with the community’s children inside them.