Dallas Museum of Art Scrollathon
Speechless Scrollathon was brought to Dallas and Atlanta as part of speechless: different by design, a pioneering art exhibition exploring the spectrum of sensory experience and new approaches to accessibility and modes of communication in the museum setting. Co-organized by the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA; Dallas, TX) and the High Museum of Art (HMA; Atlanta, GA) and curated by Sarah Schleuning, the Margot B. Perot Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design and interim Chief Curator at the DMA, the exhibition includes a new commission by Steven and William, designed to create a participatory environment in which senses merge.
Over the course of four weeks in July/August, 2019, Steven and William engaged with over 1,700 participants, including students, seniors, youths in detention centers, and the visually impaired in both communities. Each participant made a work of art that they associated with a personal story, and shared that story with the group, demonstrating how contemporary art can become a lens for personal storytelling. Next, participants collaborated by contributing additional components to the collaborative artwork, tilted Scroll Space, a vibrant and tactile room created entirely of over 10,000 hand-rolled scrolls commissioned for the speechless exhibition on view at the DMA from November 10, 2019 to March 22, 2020 and at the HMA from April 25 to September 6, 2020. Participants in both cities are encouraged to visit the exhibition with their family and friends to see their collaborative efforts displayed in a museum setting.
One wall of Scroll Space was made with participants in Dallas, Texas.
Interior of Scroll Space.
Participants initialed a wooden dowel in the center of their scroll.
Dallas Partners
Dallas Museum of Art
DMA Meaningful Moments
DMA Teen Ambassador Program
DMA Teen Advisory Council
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas- Mesquite
Center for BrainHealth
City of Dallas- Park in the Woods Recreation Center
Connecting Point of Park Cities
Fretz Recreation Center
Harbor Chase of the Park Cities
Martin Weiss Recreation Center
Project Transformation- North Texas
Resource Center- Youth First
The Stewpot Art Department
UTD Callier Center for Communication Disorders
WellMed Charitable Foundation Senior Activity Center
Atlanta Partners
High Museum of Art
Bolton Elementary School
Boyd Elementary
Cary Reynolds Elementary School
Center for the Visually Impaired
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta- Chamblee
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta- Warren
Common Good Atlanta
Department of Juvenile Justice
Global Village Project
Holy Innocents Episcopal School
Langston Hughes High School
Tapestry Charter School
Speechless Participants Portraits displayed on the wall at the Dallas Museum of Art.
