Artwork copyright Joanne Hammer. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Joanne Hammer. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail).

Artwork copyright Joanne Hammer. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail).

Artwork copyright Joanne Hammer. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail).

Artwork copyright Joanne Hammer. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Joanne Hammer. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2011.

In Wanting to Know, 2011

Joanne Hammer
American (born 1947)

Location: Eastern Washington University, Cheney

About the Artwork

Joanne Hammer's glass and marble mosaic tile artwork honors the history of the building where it's sited, Hargreaves Hall. Hammer pays tribute to the local area with imagery of the Palouse landscape and a reference to Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, both in Eastern Washington.

The figure of a man with an open book is an homage to the building's namesake, Richard T. Hargreaves. He became president of Eastern Washington University in 1926, and it was his dream that the university would have its own library. This building was Hargreaves' most ambitious project and was named after him when he died unexpectantly in 1939. Hargreaves Hall was originally constructed in the 1940s as the university library and updated in 2009. 

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Eastern Washington University.

About the Artist

Northwest painter and mosaic artist Joanne Hammer creates artworks that explore concepts of time and intuition.

Born in Seattle, Hammer studied as an undergraduate at the University of Washington and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in textile design from the University of Hawaii in 1977. She returned to the Pacific Northwest, settling on Vashon Island in South Puget Sound, Western Washington, where she lives and works.