PHOENIX, AZ.- This fall, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) will partner with artists and Scrollathon founders Steven and William Ladd to engage community organizations across the Phoenix Metro region who will create a large-scale community-made artwork as part of the nationwide Scrollathon project. The artwork, along with a portrait mural and signature plate bearing the names of all participants, will be unveiled to the public in Arizona on October 3 as part of First Friday, a free-access day at the Museum featuring hands-on artmaking activities and gallery activations.

On September 17, the Ladds will appear in conversation with Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO, to share more about the Arizona chapter of Scrollathon and how the work will represent the 48th state in 2026.

“Phoenix Art Museum is excited to bring community members together to create art and meaningful moments of connection as part of the National Scrollathon® initiative,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. “Over nearly two decades, the Ladds have engaged with tens of thousands of individuals from different walks of life to build community, understanding, and art, and as the representing institution for Arizona at next year’s Kennedy Center semiquincentennial celebration, we’re honored to join in this important work and welcome many valued community organizations to our space in the spirit of creativity, collaboration, and unity.”

Artists and brothers Steven and William Ladd founded Scrollathon in 2006, initiating collaborative projects that worked with found and upcycled materials to engage participants in the creative process.

Taking cues from the traditions of quilting bees and story circles, the artist-guided Scrollathon workshops provide participants with a welcoming environment and opportunity to play, talk, and think, resulting in art objects that are imbued with personal and universal meaning.

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts selected the Ladds to lead the creation of an encompassing visual art installation, the National Scrollathon®, that would bring together the collaborative creative expression and engagement of more than 250,000 participants from all over the United States, including organizations across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., five U.S. territories, and several tribal nations. In September 2025, the Ladds will launch the Arizona chapter of National Scrollathon® at Phoenix Art Museum by inviting 250 participants from across the 48th state to create individual scrolls expressing their personal stories during community artmaking workshops led by the artist-brothers.

Each Scrollathon participant will create two scrolls made from two strips of fabric that are tightly rolled and secured with a pin. The first scroll is for the participant to keep, while the second scroll is used to create a larger artwork. After the workshops, scrolls from the whole community are brought together into a wooden frame and affixed into place. Participants’ photographic portraits are later incorporated into a photo mural and a souvenir brochure. The meditative nature of working with their hands acts as an incentive for participants to verbally and visually communicate with each other, demonstrating the power of art to unite people across backgrounds, abilities, and identities.

The Scrollathon program at PhxArt will conclude with the unveiling of the community made artwork on October 3 at the Museum’s on-site First Friday, a monthly free access event with a wide range of programs and activities for visitors of all ages. A replica of the work, as well as its accompanying portrait mural and signature plate with the names of participants, will represent Arizona in the larger Scrollathon Collaborative Masterwork, which will be displayed at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts from Memorial Day to Labor Day in 2026 (May 26–September 7, 2026) as part of the Center’s yearlong celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.