Kaylyn Peterson / Managing editor

The Linfield community will gather to celebrate the life of Nils Lou at 6 p.m. on Feb. 18 in Ice Auditorium.

The celebration of life event is being organized by faculty in the art department. Associate Professor of Art History and Visual Culture, Brian Winkenweder is creating the program for the event, according to an email from Ron Mills, Professor of Painting, Drawing, Printmaking.

An email from the President’s Office announced the death of Lou, Professor of Ceramics and Sculpture, on Dec. 26.

Lou passed away in afternoon on Dec. 25 according to John McKeegan’s email.

Lou began teaching at Linfield in 1987. Lou’s artwork has been featured around the world, and  he has created many paintings and sculptures on the Linfield Campus, including the sundial on Murdock Hall.

Lou’s Spring 2014 classes will be co-instructed by Cindy and Don Hoskisson, a couple close to the Lou family.

Lou lived in nearby Willamina, Ore., and he would have been 82 on Jan. 5.

In an article written in the Linfield Review in 2010, Lou commented on the similarities of relationship between people and art.

“I think it’s almost like any relationship, whether it’s with another person or anything that we personalize,” Lou said. “We assign it a certain vitality and life, and it takes on a form sometimes that goes beyond what we think it might.”

Kaylyn     Peterson can          be            reached   at            
[email protected].

Photo courtesy of Ron Mills

Professor of Ceramics and Sculpture Nils Lou discusses a piece with potter Cindy Hoskisson in Willamina, Ore. Lou’s Spring 2014 classes will be co-instructed by Hoskisson and her husband, Don.