Ms. McKenzie's position as winner of the National Catholic Reporter's competition for a new image of Jesus at 2000 has been life-altering as well as humbling.  Her goal was to create a work of art in keeping with her beliefs as a person and artist, and inclusive of groups previously uncelebrated in His image.   She hopes "Jesus of the People" might remind us that we are all created in God's likeness.  The worldwide welcoming celebration of this interpretation of Jesus and the gratitude expressed to her - as well as the onslaught of negative responses - affirm her belief that this work, this particular vision of Jesus, was meant to exist now.  The artist feels she is simply the vehicle through which the image came to be.

Ms. McKenzie currently lives in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, and can be reached at jmckenzie2000@hotmail.com

Jesus of the People (First Place)
Oil on canvas
30" x 48"
Not for sale

Ms. McKenzie's paintings can be found in the collections of Cardinal Francis George, the Archdiocese of Chicago; First Presbyterian Church, Portland, Oregon; St. James Church, Island Pond, Vermont; Siena College, Loudonville, New York; and Baron and Baroness Willem van Lynden, Zeist, Netherlands, among others.  Her work has been on the covers of many publications, Connecticut Review, and The National Catholic Reporter Supplement, most recently.  Many of her images are licensed by Lasting Visions, Burlington, Vermont. (www.westart@guildhall.com).   Ms.  Mckenzie will have a solo show in 2001 at the Mariological Society of America, Dayton, Ohio.