Education
1978 California College of Arts and Crafts, MFA
1974 California State University, Hayward, (California State University East Bay) BFA
1972 Contra Costa College, AA

Awards, Residencies, Grants
2024 Orinda Art in Public Places Program, awarded the title “Orinda Artist Laureate.”
2022 California State University, East Bay, recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award, College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences.
2018 Guillermo Award, awarded by the Richmond Art Center
“For extraordinary support of the Richmond Art Center and advocacy for the ceramic arts throughout the Bay Area.”
2013 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award.
City of Berkeley, CA, recipient of “John Toki – Leslie Ceramics Day.”
2012 Received the Outstanding Achievement Award from National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts.
2010 Contra Costa College, Distinguished Alumnus Award.
2004 Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, awarded residency.
1990 San Francisco State University Public Art Program, awarded site for sculpture installation.
1989 European Ceramic Work Centre, awarded residency.
1987 City of Hayward, CA, presented with the Key to the City for contributions to the arts.
1979 - 1982 John Michael Kohler Arts Center Arts/Industry Program, awarded residency.
California College of the Arts, awarded two teaching grants.
Orchids Award, Oakland, CA, honorable mention with Herb Greene for Franklin Plaza Design.
Ruth Chenven Foundation, New York, awarded sculpture grant.

Exhibitions and Commissions
2012 Transmedia Sculpture Walk, Natsoulas Gallery, installed Blue Turns.
2012 Village Theatre Art Gallery, two-person exhibition with Pamela Steff Toki.
2012 Petaluma Arts Center, exhibited clay pipe sculpture Synchronicity.
2012 Berkeley Treasures: Bay Area Ceramics, Berkeley Art Center, group exhibition.
2011 Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery.
2011 75th Anniversary Exhibition, Richmond Art Center.
2011 California Shakespeare Theater, installed Spring Majesty, 24’.
2011 30 Ceramic Sculptors, Natsoulas Gallery.
2011 American Museum of Ceramic Art, installed 22’ painted pipe sculpture.
2010 Ceramics Annual of America, San Francisco, installed 22’ sculpture.
2010 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, sculpture installation.
2010 Museo de Arte de Mazatlán, monoprint exhibition.
2009 “Landscape Abstractions,” Sculpturesite Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Udinotti Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2009 Pipe Sculptures: Mission clay @ Building Products, Phoenix, AZ
2008 Solo exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA
2008 Outdoor sculpture exhibit, City of Orinda Art in Pubic Places, Orinda, CA
2007 “CCA: Sculpture Selections,” Sculpturesite Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 “John Toki: Abstracts and Landscapes,” Art Foundry Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2006 “CCA Ceramics 1950-2005,” Stephen Oliver Art Center, California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA
2006 “Toki & Gudjonsdottir,” Sculpturesite Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006 “Solo Exhibition,” Art Foundry Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2005 “Tiles to Totems,” Group exhibition curated by Nancy Servis, Art Foundry Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2005 “Group Exhibition,” Osceola Gallery, Emeryville, CA
2005 “Blue Back,” installation of outdoor work for the Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
2005 “Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition,” Cal Shakespeare, Orinda, CA
2004 Paradise Ridge Sculpturegrove, Santa Rosa, CA
2004 “City of Richmond Public Commission,” Mira Vista Park, Richmond, CA
2003 “’s-Hertogenbosch,” Commission and installation of work for City of Berkeley Art Commission, Berkeley, CA
2003 “Raven,” Baltimore Clay Works, Baltimore, MD
2002 “Outdoor Sculpture,” Group exhibition curated by Richard Kalmer, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
2001 “John Toki & Daniela Pulido,” Davis Art Center, Davis, CA
2000 “Artists to Authors,” Pence Gallery, Davis, CA
1999 “John Toki & Larry Stefl,” Washington Square Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998 Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino, CA
1997 “West Coast Painting and Sculpture 1997,” Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA
1997 “Spring Majesty,” Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
1997 Udinotti Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
1997 “30th Anniversary Invitational Exhibition,” Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
1996 University Gallery, California State University Hayward, Hayward, CA
1996 Udinotti Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
1995 “Abstraction Exhibition: Sculpture and Paintings with Mary Lovelace O’Neal,” Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
1995 “Solo Exhibition,” Pence Gallery, Davis, CA
1995 “Blue Currents,” Commissioned by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Oakland, Oakland City Hall, Oakland, CA
1995 Udinotti Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
1994 “Plaza Art 1994,” Mountain View, CA
1994 “O,” installation of outdoor work for the Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
1993 Udinotti Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993 “A Sense of Place,” Public Art Projects and Proposals, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
1992 Commission for Barnett Residence, Pt. Richmond, CA
1991 “The Continuous Presence of Organic Architecture,” Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, OH
1990 “Public Art,” San Francisco State University Art Gallery, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
1990 “Artists of Contra Costa County, Hearst Gallery, Moraga, CA
1989 “Group Exhibition,” Gallery De Keerder Kunstkamer, Cadier En Keer, Netherlands
1988 “John Toki & Bella Feldman,” Gallery Route One, Pt. Reyes Station, CA
1987 “3-D,” juried art exhibition, San Jose Art League, San Jose, CA
1987 Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
1986 “Tetsudau,” commission for Eden Issei Terrace, Hayward, CA
1986 Public Commission through Bay Area Partnership, Franklin Plaza, Oakland, CA
1985 “Celebration of Sculpture,” San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
1985 “Latham Square Architectural Competition Exhibition,” Oakland, CA
1983 “Black Tide,” Commissioned by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, Sacramento, CA
1982 “California College of the Arts and Crafts 75th Anniversary Exhibit,” Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
1982 “29th Annual Sculpture Exhibition, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
1980 “Highlights,” Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
1980 “Three East Bay Artists,” Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA
1979 “Solo Exhibition,” Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
1979 “Pieces of Eight,” John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Kohler, WI

Positions
2021 – Present:
- Toki Studio, established 1974.
- Mission Clay Products — Art & Industry Program, Associate Director.
- Laguna Clay Company — Director of Research and Design.
- American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA) — Board Member.
- No Rules In Clay — Documentary film co-producer with Tom Franco.
- Oxford University Press — Hands In Clay, author.
- Diablo Valley College — Ceramics Department, Part-Time Faculty.

1995 – 2015 — Leslie Ceramic Supply Co., Inc., Owner.
1985 – 2014 — McGraw Hill, Author.
2001 – 2014 — Richmond Art Center, Trustee.
2012 — SCULPTCAST: Conversations About Sculpture, Associate Producer.
2010 – 2012 — Ceramics Annual of America (CAA), Co-Director.
1993 – 2008 — California College of the Arts, Senior Adjunct Professor.
1992 — European Ceramic Work Centre, Staff.
1980 – 1991 — San Francisco State University, Visiting Assistant Professor, Sculpture Department.
1989 — California State University, East Bay, Adjunct Professor.
1987 – 1988 — Richmond Art Center, President, Board of Directors.
1985 – 1987 — University of California, Berkeley, Lecturer, Ceramics Department.
1982 — John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Workshop Leader, Arts/Industry Program.
1977 – 1989 — Stephen De Staebler, Artist’s Assistant, Berkeley, CA.