Sarasota Art Museum Scrollathon

Walter’s Story

“You look at this scroll, it’s black and white. It’s not separate, it’s together.

I grew up here in Sarasota, Florida, in a segregated school system up until the point I was in tenth grade. At that point they closed down the local black school, and they integrated the two high schools here in Sarasota. And one of them was in this building…. 

I’m emotional because I know what we went through, and it wasn’t easy. That emotion came out so raw and so unexpected. I don’t even know where it was coming from. As I think back, I know why it came out, because it needed to come out.”

You and Me, Me and You,
All of Us Together., 2022. Approximately 96 x 96 x 3 1/2 inches. Fiber, rubber bands, pins, glue, wood, paint.

Steven and William Ladd were proud to launch the National Scrollathon at the Ringling College of Art and Design’s Sarasota Art Museum in 2022! This engagement with the Sarasota community will endure as Florida’s contribution in the National Scrollathon’s effort to illuminate America’s story through collaboration and the presentation of world-class art. From October 10-14, over 500 Community Artists from all around Sarasota toured the exhibition Steven and William Ladd: Lead With a Laugh and participated in sessions where they created an artwork to keep, completed components for a Collaborative Masterwork, and participated in several forms of documentation. To conclude and celebrate the week, the Collaborative Masterwork, titled You and Me, Me and You, All of us Together., was installed as part of the Museum’s exhibition showcasing the history of the Scrollathon, accompanied by the display of signatures and photographic portraits of the Community Artists.

Community Partners
All Star Children’s Foundation
ALSO Youth
Alzheimer’s Association Florida Gulf Coast Chapter
CreArte Latino Cultural Center
Easterseals Southwest Florida
Girls Inc. Sarasota
Gulf Coast Latin Chamber of Commerce
IMPACT Theatre
Indigenous in Music and Arts Inc.
JFCS of the Suncoast
Kutya Major SAM Teen Arts Council + Family
Manasota B.U.D.S. (Bringing Up Down Syndrome)
Memory Disorder Clinic at Sarasota Memorial Hospital
Neuro Challenge Foundation for Parkinson’s
New College of Florida
Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida
Ringling College of Art and Design
Sarasota Art Museum
Sarasota County Health and Human Services
Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, Second Heart Homes, Inc.
Senior Friendship Center Sarasota
Southside School Foundation for the Arts
Streets of Paradise Sarasota