We are pleased to have the opportunity to exhibit this inspiring, oil painting by the artist Janet McKenzie. ‘A Brave and Quiet Heart’ is a gentle figure with open hands, intently looking ahead, bearing pride colors, and balanced with doves on each side. This June 12th, 2020, marks four years since the Orlando Pulse Nightclub tragedy. McKenzie excels at capturing a powerful visage, which while at rest, offers both strength and solace.

We invite you to come visit the gallery this month and take in the details of her work in person. Read McKenzie’s statement below.

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As an artist I have a responsibility to be a voice for change, even hope. I have no interest in making art that is violent or negatively reactionary. My art comes from that universal and sacred place within that connects us all, beyond gender, beyond race, beyond perceived differences.

For some time I have been asked to create art that includes the LGBTQ community, something I also wanted to do. Images, for the most part, do not simply appear however, an honest journey takes time to reveal itself.

The subject within A Brave and Quiet Heart offers a gesture of possibility while simply looking at the viewer, flanked by doves symbolizing this person’s inherent sanctity, something that is so often forgotten or dismissed. The pride flag is interpreted as inextricably part of their essence.

My hope is that A Brave and Quiet Heart will serve as a visual testament to hope over despair, to love over hate, and to the memory of those souls who lost their lives at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando – June 12, 2016.

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