Born of a belief in the incredible potential of every individual and the power of community, Scrollathon represents the Ladd brothers’ integration of fine and conceptual art, design, and craft with their passion for hands-on educational collaboration. As the program approaches its 20th anniversary in 2026, each Scrollathon Community Artist creates a personalized artwork based on a personal experience, demonstrating the power of art to facilitate storytelling. Participants then collaborate on a Collaborative Masterwork and are photographed for a permanent record.
What began in the artists’ hometown of St. Louis quickly expanded to include special education students in Brooklyn, individuals in the custody of the NYC Department of Corrections, and diverse communities across the U.S. and abroad. A 2014 Scrollathon at the Parrish Art Museum, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, involved over 1,100 participants in a single community for the first time, sparking a movement that has reached thousands more and created monumental artworks celebrated by the communities where they are installed.
In 2015, a commission for a 40-by-40-foot permanent monument in Downtown Brooklyn challenged the Ladd brothers to explore the possibilities of taking intricately crafted objects onto a massive scale. In 2016, more than 900 participants from local Boys and Girls Clubs in Atlanta contributed to a 35-foot mural for the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, exposing the Ladds’ work to wider audiences and earning a national feature on CBS tied to Super Bowl LIII.
In 2019, Scrollathon reached a record number of 3,750 participants. With funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge, a collaboration with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students, veterans, and others affected by gun violence in Parkland, Florida, Scrollathon promoted community healing. Middle schoolers, youths in detention centers, and seniors collaborated on an artwork for an exhibition promoting the senses, funded by the Dallas Museum of Art and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Diverse ethnic community groups, U.S. Army staff, and kids in afterschool programs helped create a vibrant work for the new NBA Detroit Pistons practice facility. And during a two-week festival celebrating The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts REACH expansion, 750 D.C. residents made scrolls for a 20-foot artwork permanently installed in the new River Pavilion, contributing to a lasting legacy at one of our Nation’s best-known arts and culture destinations.
In the face of unprecedented challenges in 2020, Scrollathon engaged 126 participants in five facilities on Rikers Island to collaborate on an artwork presented at “The Other Side” exhibition, leading to a 2021-22 commission by NYC Department of Corrections leadership. And the National Scrollathon, launched in October 2022, will unite communities across the Nation through monumental collaborative art-making, illuminating the American story.
By utilizing humble materials, fostering an environment of love and encouragement, and ensuring success, Scrollathon continues to reach people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds, promoting reflection, healing, joy, and accomplishment, and giving each participant the pride of being part of something greater than themselves.