Hoss Haley began working with machining and steel fabrication as a child, under the influence of Kansas family farming traditions. An apprenticeship as an architectural blacksmith in the southwest eventually led him to Penland, first as an instructor in 1993 and then as a resident artist from 1997-2000. His relationship with the school has continued to the present.

During the residency he moved his work away from functional blacksmithing and toward the pure sculptural forms for which he is now known. Embracing scale for the public arts sector, Haley has completed projects for the Pack Square Conservancy in Asheville, NC, Charlotte Area Transit System and Mecklenburg County in North Carolina, as well as privately commissioned large-scale steel sculptures. Museum collections include the Mint Museum of Craft + Design ,John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and the Charlotte Douglas Airport FBO Terminal.