Joe Hawley (1938-2023) was a significant American ceramics and glass artist, beloved professor at San Francisco State University, and pioneer in the California glass movement, known for his innovative spirit, large-scale sculptures like the “Woodpecker Wall,” and influential teaching, leaving a lasting legacy in the art community and his adopted town of Cloverdale, CA.
Joe Hawley was a teacher and a mentor.
Joe Hawley was a shining star in the ceramics world from a very young age, and is considered a pioneer in the early California Glass Arts and the California Funk Art movements.
He became a tenured professor of ceramics at San Jose City College at just 21 years old, while completing his MFA in Glass Sculpture at San Jose State University.vShortly after, he moved on to become a professor at San Francisco State University, where he taught art for nearly three decades.
Teaching ceramics and glass at SFSU, and through his unique and indomitable creative spirit, he influenced countless creative minds over the years.
Joe founded the Hot Glass Department at SFSU, one of the first university hot glass shops in the country.
Discover Joe’s Ceramics Work
Joe Hawley spent years collaborating with industrial ceramics companies such as Gladding McBean and Mission Clay Products, where he created many of the large-scale ceramic pipe sculptures that he is known for.
Explore Glass Work
His extensive travels around the world also became a catalyst for much of his work, such as “Song of India,” a series of hanging and stacked pieces that were created after a sabbatical to the glass bead factories in India.
