The Collections at the Clara M. Lovett Art Museum

Aaron Macy attended NAU in the late 1990s and pursued a degree in ceramics. It was during those four undergraduate years that he fell in love with Flagstaff, creative expression, and his alma mater—he was especially drawn to the wood-fired kilns on campus. The Macy house was filled with Aaron’s creations, and consequently, Doug also acquired a strong appreciation for ceramic art.

Doug Macy, Aaron’s Father, was not an artist or a Northern Arizona University alum. Yet he was passionate about two things: collecting art and NAU—he had his son to thank for both.

After graduation, Aaron moved to Ohio to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in ceramics. At the start of his second year of grad school, he became ill and ultimately lost his battle with leukemia. He died at the age of 29.

Doug was eventually asked to chair NAU’s College of Arts and Letters Advisory Council—he set the agenda for the committee and played a big role in raising money for the college. Though it was the biannual council meetings that kept him coming back to campus, he stayed involved in any way he could. When he was in town, he visited with ceramic students and participated in student critiques. He also put his landscape architecture career to use.

From the placement, pathway, and patio of the Japanese teahouse to the construction of the ceramics clay-mixing building, Doug was instrumental in designing and implementing multiple elements on the grounds of the ceramics complex, including a memorial wall covered in wood-fired ceramic tile in honor of Aaron.

The above text was extracted from an article by Carly Banks, NAU Communications,  in the NAU News newsletter. Read the full article here: https://news.nau.edu/the-macy-legacy/#.XvZBFHt7ly0

You can see the tea house and the Aaron M. Macy Memorial wall at the ceramic complex on the south side of the Mountain Campus.

Doug’s intent for the collection was to have it on view in public locations across the campus and to make it available for edifying student and community experiences. To that end, the Clara M. Lovett Art Museum will be presenting a number of exhibits within the museum over the first few years after receipt of the gift. The longer-term goal for the collection is to place artworks throughout the Flagstaff Mountain Campus, locations accessible by all community members, so that this tremendous gift can benefit and be appreciated more widely by Lumberjacks and campus visitors alike.