Public Commissions
Family
National Scrollathon: Oklahoma
2025
Commissioned by: Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Medium: Fiber, rubber bands, pins, ink, glue, wood
Dimensions: 96 × 96 × 1 1/2 in. (Collaborative Masterwork); Signature Plate, each 8 1/2 × 11 in.
Photograph: Courtesy of the artists
Created in: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Artists’ Registration Numbers:
Collaborative Masterwork: 2025.220.001–2025.220.037
Mini Portrait Mural: 2025.221.001
Signature Sheets: 2025.222.001–2025.225.001
Portrait Mural: 2025.226.001
Exhibition History: National Scrollathon: Oklahoma, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 2025. Curator: Brian Whisenhunt
Artistic Approach
Over five days of workshops, participants rolled, stacked, and pinned vibrant textiles into scroll formations that collectively became Family, a legacy artwork for Oklahoma. The process—part sculpture, part social ritual—transformed simple materials into a monumental symbol of shared creativity.
Surrounding the masterwork, the Portrait Mural and Signature Plate archive documented each participant’s presence, turning the installation into both artwork and living record.
Commission Overview
Commissioned by the Gilcrease Museum, Family was created as Oklahoma’s contribution to America’s Cultural Project—a nationwide initiative by Steven and William Ladd uniting communities across the United States through collaborative artmaking for the 250th anniversary of the nation.
From October 6–10, 2025, 415 participants from across Oklahoma created individual scroll-based artworks expressing their stories and contributed to a large-scale Collaborative Masterwork titled Family, a Portrait Mural, and a Signature Plate bearing the names of all participants. Installed together at the Gilcrease Museum, these works embody the Scrollathon belief that every person has creative potential and that collaboration builds unity.
Engagement and Impact
The Oklahoma Scrollathon brought together almost seventy Community Groups and hundreds of individuals representing diverse backgrounds, ages, and abilities. The program celebrated Oklahoma’s cultural richness and reinforced the transformative potential of collective creation.
Special Thanks:
Brian Whisenhunt, Laurel Benson, Maddy Witt, Dana Yarbrough, Mia Hoskison, and the team at the Gilcrease Museum
Acknowledgments:
The Scrollathon team; National Scrollathon Interns and Fellows; Timothy Lewis and Babette Husson; Charles and Barbara Ladd; Mari and Gary Teeter; Claude Skelton and Gina Falcone Skelton; and Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Sponsors:
Made possible through the generous support of the Gilcrease Museum.
