Creighton students partake in Scrollathon event to exchange life stories and foster growth.
In preparation for the United States’ semi quincentennial – 250th – birthday in 2026, brothers Steven and William Ladd brought Scrollathon to Omaha, and Creighton students joined them at the Josyln Art Museum.
Across the nation, each Scrollathon event operates in sessions for a collaborative art-making experience. Eight of these sessions were held in the Josyln, with Creighton students attending their session in the evening on Thursday, Sept. 4. At the event, each student created their own scroll, which consisted of two strips of fabric that were spun together and pinned. Each student gave their scroll a name and a story.
“I named my scroll ‘A River Into Light.’ My scroll is about how I struggled through life, but even through all of that, I still try to move towards goodness,” Nate Clayton, a student who participated in the Scrollathon, said. “I want to help other people overcome their struggles and move toward goodness as well.”
Clayton wasn’t alone in his discussion of hardships. Participants discussed their challenges, uncertainties, what they were looking forward to and what they were proud of. The collaborative part of the collaborative art-making experience was more than just the art itself.
“When I learned about the Scrollathon project, and how it was really used to create a sense of solidarity and visibility between communities, it was just a beautiful and visual representation of different walks of life coming together to do something that reflected them but is a part of something bigger,” Mario Alejandre, the director of the Creighton Intercultural Center, said. “I think that it aligns with our Jesuit values, the Creighton DNA of ‘with and for others,’ of being a part of something that’s more than just ourselves.”
Eventually, the community gathered in a room in the Joslyn that would culminate in the form of a community art piece. In addition to their personal scrolls, participants also created a scroll that will become part of the Collaborative Masterwork. This includes the Nebraska mural, worked on by Creighton students. Eventually, it will become part of the greater United States mural.
The Ladd brothers have been organizing National Scrollathon sessions for the last five years.
“We got a call from the Kennedy Center in 2017 to talk about our dreams, and they asked how we would feel about taking our program on a national level,” Steven said. Before that, they had been working in local communities for 18 years.
“For us, it was really about connecting with communities,” William said. “When we first started, it was really about working with underserved communities, because they were so in need of art programming. The project just kept growing and growing.”
The brothers have traveled through 30 states so far – although, because the Scrollathon includes the U.S. territories and DC, as well as the 50 states, they’re only a little more than halfway done.
“We really started diving deep into the project over the last year,” William said. “It will be four states a month until the end … we’ll be finished with the last Scrollathon in April, and we’ll drive it down to the Kennedy Center, and it will be there from Memorial Day until Labor Day 2026.”
Between March and August of 2025, there’s going to be an exhibit happening at the Josyln in the Joslyn Connect Gallery.
Once the semi quincentennial has passed and the project is finished, the Ladd brothers will start the process over again.
“One of our big dreams is to deepen the impact of this project,” Steven said.
Steven and William Ladd certainly made an impact on Omaha during their time here.
“The people in charge — the organizers — they brought a really good atmosphere to it. It made me feel like I belonged here and that my voice mattered.” Clayton said.
At the end of the night, after all the scrolls were made and the stories had been shared, everyone who took part in the event had their photo taken to been shown alongside the final product. Through this, Steven and William Ladd make sure that the core of their message is not forgotten — that America’s strength is in her diversity.