Be the Change

Tall, lanky artist Kar Woo, who has run his own art and interior-design business, J.M. Porters, for decades, only began connecting young artists with social causes two years ago. He created a nonprofit group, Artists Helping the Homeless. Every Sunday, Woo is joined by students from MidAmerica Nazarene University (and occasionally, Woo says, from the Kansas City Art Institute) in Kansas City’s Mill Creek Park to offer meals to homeless men and women. “Sometimes we bring small grills for hamburgers and hot dogs,” Woo says. “We serve about 45 people each week.” Woo is so determined to get out the word about the plight of the homeless that he has welded a 10-foot-high steel sculpture of three words: Be the Change. Woo hopes to rotate his metal message to different cities in the metro, but the work will be officially unveiled at 4:30 p.m. today on the grounds of MidAmerica Nazarene University (2030 East College Way, in Olathe). For more information, call Woo at 816-753-8808 or see artistshelpingthehomeless.org.

Thu., April 23, 4:30 p.m., 2009