This is a group exhibit featuring the work of the following artists:

Shar Fox - Photography
Rosie Good - Acrylic
Kerry Howard - Photography
Nancy Karacand - Beadwork and Mixed Media on Canvas
Jeri Kissner - Beadwork/Fabric
Christine Kleinhenz - Acrylic on canvas, watercolor on paper
Kristie Livingston - Mixed media, watercolor, acrylic
Darcy Lockhart - Mixed media
Cindy Quisenberry - Watercolor on paper
Johanna Smith - Quilted fabric
Lola Stewart - Acrylic on paper
Susan Watson Oil on canvas
Kelsey Wilcox-Lovig - Acrylic on canvas

Opening Reception - 4:30pm
Artists’ Talk - 5pm

Nancy Karacand, curator and a participating artist in the Simple Loving Kindness exhibit opening at the JACC Gallery on March 6th is a former Juneau resident who currently resides on the northern Oregon Coast. She is a beadwork/jewelry artist and a semi-retired psychotherapist who was first introduced to the Simple Loving Kindness meditation over 40 years ago when a friend gave her Stephen Levine's book, "Healing into Life and Death" (1984). She found the phrases of the meditation visually evocative and thought for many years about engaging other artists in using the meditation as inspiration for creating visual art. A couple years ago, she began to share her idea for a meditation-inspired art exhibit with a few local artist friends. This led to a series of meditation sessions with artists and a proposal to a local arts non-profit group which culminated in an art exhibit at Astoria Visual Arts Gallery in March 2025. The show was well received and soon after, Nancy thought of Juneau as another community where the concept of a Simple Loving Kindness art exhibit might flourish. Her proposal to the JAHC Gallery Committee was accepted and the exhibit will run March 6th through the 28th.

To familiarize Juneau artists with the simple loving kindness meditation, Nancy and her Juneau friend Darcy Lockhart have held a series of every-other-week Zoom meditation sessions which began in November and will continue through the week leading up to the exhibit. There are three parts to the simple loving kindness meditation. The first part is to oneself – “May I dwell in the heart”; the second part is to a loved one, “May you be healed”; and the third part is to the world at large, “May all beings be at peace.” In the sessions, artists are invited to share ideas or visual images that arise for them after hearing the words of the meditation. It is in this sharing that artists inspire each other in the creative process. Attending meditation sessions has not been a requirement for submitting work for the exhibit, as long as the work is inspired by some form of meditation and/or the principles of loving kindness and compassion. However, participation in the sessions has helped to build a sense of collaboration and excitement among participating artists.

The Juneau exhibit will feature the work of about 10 Juneau artists who responded to announcements on social media or through word of mouth. Work by Nancy and her granddaughter Lola Stewart will also be included. Nancy was a participant in 4 group exhibits at the JAHC Gallery over the time she lived in Juneau as well as a participant in the Alaska Juneau Public Market for over 10 years. Her granddaughter Lola was a participant in the Astoria exhibit. Most of the participating artists have attended at least one Zoom meditation session and several have attended quite regularly.

The Juneau group has often been joined virtually by one or more members of the Astoria artists group, who have enjoyed sharing their experiences from the Astoria Visual Arts exhibit and offering encouragement to the Juneau artists. Work shown in the exhibit will include all visual arts media encompassing a wide range of styles and artistic experience. There will also be an interactive installation that allows viewers to take something home with them.

This exhibit comes at a time when many are experiencing fear and uncertainty about the future. The intention of the curator and the artists participating in this exhibit is to express a collective call for hope, connectedness and healing.