Public Commissions
Growing Pains
National Scrollathon: Connecticut
2025
Commissioned by: The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut
Medium: Fiber, rubber bands, pins, ink, glue, wood, paint
Dimensions: 60 × 36 × 1 in. (Collaborative Masterwork); Signature Plate, each 8 1/2 × 11 in.
Photograph: Courtesy of the artists
Created in: Ridgefield, Connecticut
Artists’ Registration Numbers:
Collaborative Masterworks: 2025.012.001–2025.012.016
Mini Portrait Mural: 2025.018.001
Signature Sheet: 2025.019.001
Portrait Mural: 2025.022.001
Exhibition History: National Scrollathon: Connecticut, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut, 2025. Coordinated by Cybele Maylone, Namulen Bayarsaihan, and Kris Honeycutt
When the opportunity arose to bring the Scrollathon to Connecticut, Cybele immediately recognized how naturally the project aligned with The Aldrich’s mission of engagement and experimentation. With her leadership and the support of Namulen Bayarsaihan and Kris Honeycutt, the museum hosted a full-day program on February 25, 2025, where 98 participants from across the region collaborated on the creation of Growing Pains.
Adding a further layer of connection, Charlotte and John Suhler, whom we met during the National Scrollathon in Florida through the Sarasota Art Museum, generously supported the project. Having recently become collectors of our work and residents of Connecticut, their involvement underscored the way Scrollathon continues to build bridges between artists, collectors, and institutions across the nation.
Commission Overview
Commissioned by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Growing Pains represents Connecticut’s contribution to America’s Cultural Project, part of the National Scrollathon initiative uniting communities across the country through creativity and storytelling. The project also marked a full-circle moment in a decade-long relationship with Cybele Maylone, Executive Director of The Aldrich.
Ten years earlier, while serving as Director of UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, Cybele collaborated with us on one of the largest artworks of our careers, a forty-foot-square public installation at City Point. UrbanGlass fabricated hundreds of blown-glass beads for that project, and we proudly credited them in the publication and listed them among the community groups. Cybele later told us how meaningful it was to be publicly acknowledged, noting that artists rarely do so. That moment established a mutual respect that has continued to shape our relationship ever since.
Artistic Approach
Participants began by selecting two fabric trimmings from a curated palette of colors, chosen in conversation with the museum to reflect the tone and spirit of the community. Each person rolled the first trimming tightly around a one-inch wooden dowel, added the second when inspired, and continued wrapping until the scroll was complete. We then secured each scroll with a pin and invited participants to make their personal “mark” on the end of the dowel using pens, pencils, or markers. Some created miniature drawings, others symbols, initials, or signatures, each a self-contained story within the whole.
In the final work, the customized ends of the dowels are visible, an intricate landscape of color, pattern, and gesture. Viewers often lean in close, scanning the surface to find “their” scroll among hundreds, discovering themselves as part of something larger.
Over the course of the day, the front of the room filled with trays holding the completed scrolls. These trays were later brought back to our temporary studio, usually an Airbnb converted into a workshop and often with our parents, to fill in the negative space with scrolls they’ve been making for years. Once every scroll was fixed in place, the trays were returned to the museum to be mounted in a grid formation.
Engagement and Impact
The Scrollathon at The Aldrich brought together an extraordinary range of participants—students, adults with disabilities, and educators—from across Connecticut. Community Groups included the Maggie Daly Arts Cooperative, Ridgefield Transition Program, Side by Side Charter School, and St. Luke’s School.
Participant Reflections
One participant titled her scroll Heart of Gratitude, writing:
“Because gratitude is something that centers me. I have lived a life of love. I love the people in my life and I feel loved by the people in my life. My gratitude is something that stems from having had a very happy childhood. Unfortunately, my parents have both passed away, but the love they poured into me will live on and therefore, they will too.”
Another participant’s Hope for America was Empathy:
“Because I feel we are living in a country that is deeply divided by lack of understanding of others and perhaps a lack of understanding of one’s self. If we could move forward with empathy and compassion and an appreciation of why differences are interesting and important, I would love for the country to move away from division, anger, hate, and intolerance and toward a place of unity, tolerance, and love. I think that with empathy in our hearts we have a better chance of achieving a more peaceable kingdom.”
Their words embody the spirit of the Scrollathon—personal reflection transformed into collective vision.
Context and Legacy
Growing Pains joins the expanding constellation of National Scrollathon artworks created in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and five U.S. territories. Each Collaborative Masterwork, including Connecticut’s, will culminate in a landmark national exhibition at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2026, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States. Together, these works form a living archive of the country’s creativity, resilience, and collective imagination.
Community Partners
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum; Maggie Daly Arts Cooperative; Ridgefield Transition Program; Side by Side Charter School; St. Luke’s School
Sponsors
Made possible through the generous support of CT Humanities, Ethan Allen, The Norwitt Family, and John and Charlotte Suhler
Special Thanks
Cybele Maylone, Namulen Bayarsaihan, Kris Honeycutt, and the team at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
Acknowledgments
The Scrollathon team; National Scrollathon Interns and Fellows; Timothy Lewis and Babette Husson; Charles and Barbara Ladd; Mari and Gary Teeter; Claude and Gina Falcone Skelton; and the team at Lowenstein Sandler LLP