The Anchorage Museum to Show Preston Singletary's Tlingit Inspires Glassworks

Written by Joel Weismuller Saturday, 10 March 2012 21:06

Anchorage, Alaska.- The Anchorage Museum is proud to present "Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire and Shadows", on view from February 3rd through April 22nd 2012. For more than 20 years, Preston Singletary has melded the legends of his Tlingit heritage with the beauty of glass to create a distinctive, powerful body of work. “Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire and Shadows”, is a mid-career survey chronicling Singletary’s evolution from night watchman at a glass studio to internationally recognized glass artist. The exhibition was curated by the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, and traveled last year to the National Museum of the American Indian’s gallery in New York City. Singletary, who lives in Seattle, was raised with stories about his Tlingit heritage from his great-grandmother, Susie Johnson Bartlett, and other relatives from southeast Alaska. Inspired by this legacy, he dedicated his work to both honoring Tlingit tradition and infusing it with new vitality. He sees the Alaska exhibition as a homecoming.

“I am honored to have all this national attention for my work, but my connections to the Native community and the indigenous world community is where I get my inspiration,” he said. “I have a tremendous sense of purpose with my work because it represents my family, history, community and the confluence of cultures as I experience it.” His unique interpretations of Tlingit legends are visible in his stunning glass sculptures, many of which are in traditional forms such as crest hats, masks and rattles. He employs a complex combination of techniques, including glassblowing, sand carving and inlaying.

In this exhibition, visitors will see nearly 50 works of art, including some rare objects being exhibited for the first time and Singletary’s most ambitious work to date: “Clan House” is a 16-by-10-foot glass triptych recalling the interior of a Tlingit longhouse. The exhibition is enriched with original music and a documentary film. Some objects on display are from the artist’s own collection; others were borrowed from museum and private collections across the United States. Singletary’s art is included in collections at the Seattle Art Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Anchorage Museum; and the Heard Museum, Phoenix, among others.

A world-class museum located in the heart of Alaska's largest city, the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center began as a public-private partnership to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the purchase of Alaska from Russia. The Museum opened its doors in 1968 with an exhibition of 60 borrowed Alaska paintings, and a collection of 2,500 historic and ethnographic objects loaned from the Cook Inlet Historical Society. A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts made possible the first visiting national exhibition, "The Far North," from the National Gallery of Art in 1973. That same year, the Museum became the first museum in Alaska accredited by the American Association of Museums, and voters approved a bond issue to pay for a 15,000 square-foot building addition. In the next decade, with the flood of revenues from oil development, the state funded community-wide building projects. "Project 80's" led to a major 140,000 square-foot expansion of the Museum in 1986. Funds were raised to complete the Alaska Gallery, a showcase of the Museum's permanent historic and ethnographic collection.

This Gallery remains a popular Alaska resident and tourist destination, helping school children and adults alike explore Alaska's unique history and rich cultures. As the facility grew, so did the Museum's collections. The permanent collection now numbers 17,500 objects plus an education collection of roughly 2,000 artifacts; the Department contains more than 350,000 historical photographs. Each year, more than 20 travelling exhibits from around the globe visit the Museum.Travelling exhibitions are complemented by innovative public programming--community-wide cultural events, Free Family Days featuring local artists and hands-on art activities, and docent-led tours for approximately 15,000 school children every year. In 1992, the Museum became the home of the first regional office of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History Arctic Studies Center. The Arctic Studies Center supports the Museum's mission through research, education, collections and exhibitions. Today the Museum-one of the 10 most visited attractions in Alaska-looks forward to another expansion of both its facility and mission, to become the region's premier repository and workshop for the study, appreciation, and enjoyment of the culture and science of the North. Visit the museum's website at ... www.anchoragemuseum.org.

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