BTW even
Debug.Print ActiveWorkbook.Names(strRNG.Text).RefersTo
gives me an error whereas
Debug.Print ActiveWorkbook.Names("NorthAmerica").RefersTo
gives me the actual freeform object reference.
EDIT:
OK so I declared strRNG as a Variant and for whatever reason I'm now getting the .RefersTo statement to work:
Debug.Print ActiveWorkbook.Names(strRNG.Text).RefersTo
however, this line still doesn't work:
ActiveSheet.Shapes.Range(ActiveWorkbook.Names(strRNG.Text).RefersTo).Fill.ForeColor.ObjectThemeColor = msoThemeColorAccent2
still troubleshooting.