Chameleon has been in discussions with Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and is designing a three-year project for artists and writers to produce exhibitions, pamphlets, events and poetry readings about the subject. The project will begin with a focus on Kansas City and as the exhibitions and books are produced they will be offered to other institutions statewide, with lectures and workshops to expand the discussion.

Our clients were youth from east of Troost Avenue, printmaking students from the Kansas City Art Institute, as well as the general public. With the help of the H&R Block Foundation we provided many emerging artists with new and exciting creative opportunities as well as access to printmaking facilities. We are just beginning this process with Zz School and Erin Zona and we look forward to a bright future.

The Zz School of Print Media is an alternative art school. The Zz School aims to construct an alternative classroom that offers artists and art educators the opportunity to build, tear down, expand, and converse with the current academic model. The Zz School will be a one-year (pilot) college-level arts education program. Each semester two courses will be offered: one print technique class and one art historical course titled Object Lessons, a field trip class in which students will view and discuss often unshared archives and collections in Kansas City. Don’t keep your visions to yourself, enroll now!

Erin Zona chose print media as a focus for The Zz School, not just because of her own background, but because printmaking is by nature a democratic art form. With a focus on not only the mastery of technique and formal considerations, printmaking at its contemporary and historical root is about the spread of ideas.

The current vision for the school is that the one-year pilot program will be divided into two eight-week semesters. In addition to the two course offerings, a visiting artist will be brought to Kansas City to work with faculty and students on the creation of a printed edition. These prints will then be used for both fundraising and the development of The Zz School teaching collection.

The project is funded in part by the R.A. Long Foundation.

Hugh Merrill, Director of Chameleon and a Professor of Art at the Kansas City Art Institute, will be working with the support of Janet Kaufman and Lynn Kaufman, co-authors of The Grump Meter: A Family Tool for Anger Control. Janet and Lynn bring their expertise, respectively, in creative writing, teaching and social work to the projects.

 The Grump Meter tool itself is like a colored ladder, a visual reminder to stay on calm (indicated by blue) to prevent the climb to explosion (indicated by red,) and to learn how to come back down the meter when we start to see emotions go up (see wwww.grumpmeter.com). The project involves art directly, because kids and adults make their own Grump Meters. Each one is different and creates a unique and personal conversation, helping to encourage self reflection. Making drawings together gets kids and adults alike reflecting on their own lives artistically and playfully. It’s been a privilege to witness this.

 The first part of the project will take place in Boise Idaho home of Janet Kaufman, who is the co-author of the book and process. Hugh Merrill has been invited to Surel’s Arts Residency in Boise and will have a studio from May 19 to June 19. Here he will work with Janet and Lynn Kaufman and a broad range of children’s programs including schools and social service agencies.

Merrill will help facilitate arts actions based on anger control, and help in the production of banner sized Grump Meters from the work of the children and families. He will create response work in the privacy of his own studio. Merrill plans to continue the work in the fall in Kansas City in conjunction with schools and social services agencies. If you are interested in scheduling a project with your clients please contact Hugh Merrill.

Tuesday, June 16
6:30pm – 8:30pm

Surel’s Place: 212 E. 33rd St Garden City, ID
Free, All ages welcome

Chameleon Arts and Youth Development Director Hugh Merrill, renowned studio and community artist, and tenured professor at the Kansas City Art Institute, is Surel’s Place’s artist-in- residence this May-June. With an MFA from Yale and an established career as a celebrated and influential artist, Mr. Merrill’s work has been exhibited and collected by museums and galleries worldwide.

Mr. Merrill spends much of his practice focused on community art projects that are steeped in his belief “that artists should enter society and create positive change, as well as retreat into their studios to articulate their own private voices.”

During his residency, Merrill will partner with Janet Kaufman, professor at the University of Utah and co-author of The Grump Meter, A Family Tool for Anger Control. Together they will facilitate multiple community projects/workshops focused on the intersections of art, feelings, behavior, and identity inspired by Ms. Kaufman’s book. Workshops will focus on self-portraits and poetry, some of which will become part of large-scale Grump Meter banners to be displayed in public spaces throughout Boise. Ms. Kaufman’s work with The Grump Meter has been successfully carried out in multiple communities and has been praised by schools, parents, government offices, and corporations alike. During his residency, Mr. Merrill will also be working in the studio to produce new work inspired by his experiences here.

At heart, the Grump Meter is, an art project: youth and adults make their own Grump Meters, and each one is different and creates pathways to new observation, inquiry, insight, and connection. Making Grump Meters together gets people of all ages reflecting on their own lives artistically and even playfully. The Grump Meter is a colored ladder, a visual representation of mood. It serves as tool to self-regulate emotion and as a reminder to stay calm (blue) and prevent the climb up to explosive anger (red). Discussions about the Grump Meter aim to teach people how to deescalate before they start climbing the ladder.

Here is a partial list of organizations Chameleon Arts and Youth Development, Mr. Merrill and Ms. Kaufman are working with during their collaboration: YMCA, ANSER Public Charter School, Borah High School, Roosevelt Elementary, Idaho Fine Arts Academy, Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel, Boise Bicycle Project, Boise State Writing Project, The Boys & Girls Club, Easter Seals, and Boise teachers and school counselors.

The Language of Color is the final event culminating Hugh Merrill’s residency and will exhibit the work produced both by Mr. Merrill and the community. Mr. Merrill and Ms. Kaufman will also discuss their public art project in addition to inviting patrons to participate in a related hands-on activity.

This residency is sponsored in part by a Boise Weekly Cover Auction Grant. For more information visit www.surelsplace.org/merrill.

To date there have been three responses to this action: 130 broadsides by letterpress artists, 260 artist books, and 125 writers and poets have contributed to the anthology Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here. The project as a whole includes participants from 25 countries.

Chameleon is bringing together artists and writers to join the over 25 countries and numerous artists involved in this ongoing project.

Shared Visions is a practical guide to teaching socially engaged art. Although many educators have an interest in community art, there are few publications that provide effective methods of teaching it. A basic history of the genre as well as specific exercises and assignments help Shared Visions to bridge this gap.

As Executive Director of Chameleon Arts and Youth Development Agency, located in downtown Kansas City, Mo., Hugh Merrill has developed exercises and assignments that help artists and students gather both content and insight for community projects. Chameleon has worked with at-risk, homeless, and marginalized populations for over 20 years. These projects and assignments have provided a framework for educators at the Kansas City Art Institute and other institutions of learning as well as social workers and people working at community centers throughout Kansas and Missouri.

Merrill explains: “We have had great success in helping these children to develop the precursors of effective learning. A boost in self-esteem and self-awareness has helped many of them to attend local community colleges as well as state universities. Some have had the opportunity to attend elite schools, such as the Kansas City Art Institute and Duke University. By providing arts and cultural opportunities for children, we have learned what elements are effective for helping people to develop their artistic interests, which effectively translate into life skills and greater opportunity.”

As Executive Director of Chameleon Arts and Youth Development Agency, located in downtown Kansas City, Mo., Hugh Merrill has developed innovations that help artists and students gather both content and insight for community projects. These projects and assignments have provided a framework for educators at the Kansas City Art Institute and other institutions of learning as well as social workers and people working at community centers throughout Kansas and Missouri. Hugh Merrill’s studio work is available through the Todd Weiner Gallery in the Crossroads Arts District in Kansas City, Mo.

Adelia Ganson is an artist, writer and entrepreneur. She has worked with Chameleon Arts and Youth Development since 2002. Ganson sees socially engaged art as a way to help people with limited cultural opportunities express themselves and raise self-esteem and societal awareness. She has said: “Many of the participants in our programs and the neighborhoods they live in have become fallout zones from failed policy, neglect and violence. Interactive and engaging projects can help them to begin to realize creativity and self-expression can help them to find a way out in the negative environments or situations they may find themselves in.”

The project is funded in part by the R.A. Long Foundation and the Lawrence A. and Joan S. Weiner Foundation

May 14th, 5:00 to 8:00

Featuring a discussion and meet and greet with special guest Katheryn Shields, former Jackson County Executive a major supporter of the arts in Kansas City

Todd Weiner Gallery 115 W. 18th street, Suite 101
KCMO 64108
816-984-8538

We are currently working with Todd Wiener to produce an exhibition of the work of Miguel Rivera, Peregrine Honig and Hugh Merrill at the Todd Weiner Gallery. We wish to thank the Lawrence A. and Joan S. Weiner Foundation for the grant to support this amazing project.

Chameleon will also participate with Lynn Kaufmann with the Grump Meter programming on May 3, 2015 as part of the ARTicipation program.

Launched by Epsten Gallery in 2012, the ARTicipation program began as a strategic partnership with the Kansas Art Therapy Association to enhance the services provided by Epsten Gallery in its partnership with Village Shalom, a continuum-care campus in Overland Park, KS, which houses the Epsten Gallery’s office and primary exhibition and program venue.

Through ARTicipation, the Epsten Gallery now fosters collaborative partnerships with other agencies, institutions and organizations throughout the region to develop and provide art therapy-based community arts activities and cultural events — sharing cultural, intellectual and creative resources to develop site-specific and interactive programs of original and thematic content to serve audiences with a range of special needs and abilities as well as the general public.

Chameleon hosted a table for the Printmaking Exposition at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center April 17 and 18th, 2015. Chameleon provided young Printmakers the opportunity to learn professional and entrepreneurial skills while showing their work and discussing it with the public and collectors in Kansas City.  Chameleon’s mission is to provide opportunities for young people to grow through arts and culture and we are pleased to be working with the Printmaking Department at the Kansas City Art Institute. The project is funded in part by the R.A. Long Foundation.