John "Jack" Alexander Mackie

Jack Mackie, nationally known Seattle public artist, moved on to do an art installation in the wild blue yonder when he died, unexpectedly but peacefully in his sleep, August 21. Jack was 80 years old.

Born April 11, 1946, in Princeton, New Jersey, Jack was the second son of Joseph R. Mackie and Frances Campbell Mackie. The family lived in Orlando, Florida, during his childhood. In 1959 the family moved to Edmonds, Washington, where Jack graduated with the Edmonds High School Class of 1964. He attended Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) and later worked at the University of Washington Henry Art Gallery. In 1977 he was a founding member of Artech, a Seattle company managing art restoration, shipping, packaging, and displays. Jack fell in with a rowdy crowd of artists in 1978 doing Seattle’s First Avenue Project, a series of benches and street trees – a radical concept.

Jack is best known for the 1982 project “Dance Steps on Broadway,” a series of bronze footprints embedded in the sidewalks along Broadway Ave. East, in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The project, a collaboration with artist Chuck Greening, launched Jack’s public art career. In the late 1980s, Jack was lead artist for Seattle’s Metro Bus Tunnel project. Here he learned the “art” of collaborating with municipal departments, transportation engineers, and architects. Over his 40-year career Jack worked on large scale transit projects, airports, streetscapes, and parks. These projects took him to Albuquerque, Chattanooga, Fort Worth, Louisville, Miami, Norfolk, Reno, Scottsdale, and more recently Cary and Burnsville, North Carolina. In 1999 he received a Washington State Arts and Heritage Award from then-Governor Gary Locke.

At age 47 Jack was diagnosed with bladder cancer. As a survivor he danced on through many subsequent health battles with bravery and a fabulous sense of humor. Jack could make a sidewalk laugh. He is survived by his wife, Linda Massey; brother Joe Mackie and sister Anne Mackie; nieces Jessica Lindsay (David) and Jacqueline Perry (Darryl); nephews James Passey, Paul Ostby, Jay Ostby (Sarah); and great nephews Cooper Lindsay, and Alyn and Beckham Ostby.

A Celebration of Jack’s Life will be held on Sunday, October 11, from 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm at the Edmonds Waterfront Center, 220 Railroad Ave., Edmonds, WA