fellow travelers: jane and lynne

I am pleased to introduce you to the talented, compassionate and adventuresome souls who will join me on the upcoming trip to Uganda. In this installment, you will hear from Jane Voorhees and Lynne Melcher, respectively.


I earned my BFA from the University of Kansas and my MA in printmaking from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. I teach printmaking and painting at the Kansas City Art Institute and show work regularly around the country. I am preparing now for my fourth New York solo show.

We all look at things differently. What I see is dictated by where I live and where I travel, dreams I have, who I talk to, music I hear, books I read. My work is shaped by daily life and the love of art that feeds and nourishes the work I produce.

The Uganda trip will certainly give me much to draw on for my art, but much more than that, if I can affect a child in some way through art causing a smile to cross their face, then the entire trip will be worth it. Hopefully, I will see many smiles.



I am an artist- a painter, ceramicist, and textile designer. I have had the privilege of traveling the world working with artisans from the bustling city of New Delhi to the tiniest of villages in Vietnam, Bangladesh, and South Africa. Overwhelmingly, it is the people I have met who have been my greatest inspiration, and my greatest teachers.

As this fascination and curiosity about people has developed - their lives, their cultures, their stories, I have begun to explore the art of documentary filmmaking.

When I first heard about Change the Truth, I was immediately drawn to the stories about the children at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage. And when Gloria told me of her plans to visit, I felt compelled to participate in some way.

Though I have only been working in this new medium (digital filmmaking) for a few months, I hope to capture the grace and courage, the heartbreak and the happiness, that lives within each child.

Specifically, I plan to document, in video, Lonnie and Jane teaching art, and Ann and Melissa engaging in various therapies with the children. In addition, Gloria, Carol and I plan to head north for a few days. Once there, we will spend some time in a relief camp, where we will hopefully find a child who we can safely bring to the orphanage.

By limiting my focus to a handful of children, I hope to share with you the transformations that surely will take place as we attempt to “Change the Truth” for these beautiful and innocent young people.