BIOGRAPHY

Steven and William Ladd are American artists and brothers whose collaborative practice merges storytelling, material innovation, and community engagement. Working together since 2000, the Ladds have developed a distinctive visual language rooted in their shared childhood in St. Louis, Missouri—one that draws equally from memory, ritual, and the deeply tactile processes of making.

Their work spans sculpture, drawing, installation, performance, and social practice, but always returns to the handmade. Whether constructing towering textile landscapes from scrolls and beads or leading thousands of participants in their acclaimed Scrollathon® workshops, the Ladds are committed to honoring personal narrative and collective creativity. Their studio operates with three guiding principles: spend your life doing what you love, be focused and disciplined, and collaborate.

From their early forays into fashion accessories and functional design, Steven and William quickly caught the attention of curators internationally. In 2004, they were included in Le Cas du Sac at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and in 2006, their work was featured in the National Design Triennial at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum—landmark moments that helped shift their practice from design toward large-scale, conceptual installations.

In 2009, their relationship with The Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn marked a major turning point. With access to cast-off materials from the building’s past as a belt factory, the Ladds created ambitious installations and deepened their engagement with themes of reuse, resilience, and transformation. It was here that Scrollathon began to crystallize: a participatory artmaking model that brings people together through the meditative, uplifting act of making scrolls. What began as a small workshop has evolved into a national initiative that centers community voice and radically reimagines who gets to be part of the creative process.