Portrait of Self

Portrait of Self (POS) archiving and journaling process is the foundation of much of Chameleon’s youth arts programming. POS is a series of processes that guide young people in making an archive of materials that speak to and documents their past and present life in great detail. This archive/journal becomes the resource for young people to create visual, literary or performing art works that express the realeties of their lives. POS is interdisciplinary by design allowing each youth community its unique journey of discovery leading to new and unexpected final arts outcomes.

Past POS programs have lead to community wide theater productions, murals, poetry slams, installation art, interdisciplinary performance, dance and digital new media works. POS has been facilitated with a wide variety of youth demographics such as incarcerated youths through the Missouri Juvenile Justice System, with the Kansas State School for the Blind, and used as a rural archiving project in western Kansas.  POS has been used as a creative thinking and visual literacy curriculum at the Missouri Academy of Fine Art, the Kansas City Art Institute, Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts and Studio 150 in Kansas City, Missouri.  POS was the basis for a graphic mural installation at Western Sydney University, Australia, the Daum Museum at the State Fair College Sedalia, MO. and for public artworks in Columbia Missouri, Roeland Park Kansas and Dania Beach, Florida. Portrait of Self has been utilized by the Manchester Craftsman’s Guild in Pittsburgh PA, Project 12 Tulsa OK, FutureSelf Colorado Springs, Colorado, Eagle Rock School Estes Park, Colorado and with other institutions and agencies nationally.

Professor Hugh Merrill Executive Director of Chameleon and a long time professor at the Kansas City Art institute was invited to collaborate with internationally recognized artist Christian Boltanski for the Our City Our Selves community arts project in 1997 at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Kansas City .  Portrait of Self grew out of this collaboration and the process has been facilitated nationally and internationally with diverse youth populations over the past 10 years. Chameleon’s Portrait of Self  (POS) was selected as one of the National Endowment of the Arts Millennium Community Art Grant candidates. To see the Portrait of Self workbook and examples of youth and community artwork please visit www.hughmerrill.com.