Raven and the Box of Daylight continues through April 28, 2024
By Glenda Rice Collins
Oklahoma City, OK, USA — At a recent Oklahoma City Museum of Art news media preview, multi-media artist, diligent glass designer and evocative contemporary musician Preston Singletary responded to my questions by giving enthusiastic credit to the importance and power of COLLABORATION! (Videos follow).– His dazzling Raven and the Box of Daylight immersive exhibition opened here November 11.
The same day, Singletary was featured during the innovative Native Sound Summit at the First Americans Museum and in a public, evening discussion with Dr. Miranda Belarde-Lewis during the intermission of his 10-piece band’s, Khu.éex’ Performance presentation.
AT OKCMOA
Diverse artists, including metal molders and dancers have contributed to breakthrough techniques for somewhat theatrical results in major museum gallery settings for his PRESTON SINGLETARY:
— which continues through April 28, 2024 at OKCMOA.
City-wide Collaboration and Beyond
At the First Americans Museum November 11, Singletary engaged in panel discussions and a symposium about Indigenous art and sonic expression with curator Dr. Miranda Belarde-Lewis (Zuni/Tlingit). The public events complemented the Oklahoma City Museum of Art exhibition, Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight.
Yeil Koowdzitee (Raven Birth) 2018 (Detail), glass sculpture:
Blown, hot-sculpted, and sand-carved glass with video projections.
Installation photograph of the exhibition Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, November 11, 2023 – April 28, 2024. Photo by Glenda Rice Collins.
This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington and Preston Singletary and presented by The Chickasaw Nation, and is curated by Miranda Belarde-Lewis (Zuni/Tlingit), PhD. The engaging, multi-sensory visitor experience was designed by zoe | juniper.
Preston Singletary In his Own Words:
Presented by The Chickasaw Nation, the exhibition is organized by Singletary and the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA. Installation video of the exhibition Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, November 11, 2023 – April 28, 2024.
Video and interview by Glenda Rice Collins.
Video Vibes
The Dance Dimensions
Singletary credits video and visual artist Juniper Shuey, and the zoe | juniper (zj) dance company with collaborative contributions that are essential to the final outcomes of his current OKCMOA “Raven…” story-telling “immersive” exhibition. Co-founded by multi-award-winning collaborative choreographer Zoe Scofield and Shuey, zj creates stunning multidisciplinary dance performance and installation works.
2015 Guggenheim Fellow and 2013 Stranger Genius award-winner zoe | juniper (zj) is a Seattle-based dance and visual arts team.
A sampling of another zoe | juniper recent collaborative, THE OTHER SHORE, co-commissioned by Carolina Performing Arts, can be viewed at zj’s website: https://zoejuniper.org/.
Chihuly Collaborator
“We were presented with an incredible opportunity to not only bring the work of a living glass artist to Oklahoma City, but that of one of OKCMOA collection icon Dale Chihuly‘s most important collaborators,” said OKCMOA CEO & president Michael Anderson, PhD.
Chihuly Then and Now: The Collection at Twenty continues through June 23, 2024 at OKCMOA, incorporating a unique design featuring five decades of glass and works on paper, telling a comprehensive story of Chihuly’s groundbreaking career. The exhibition allows visitors to explore works never before seen in OKC, along with OKCMOA visitor favorites including Neodymium Reeds, Ikebana Boat, and a redesigned Oklahoma Persian Ceiling.
Mesmerizing with the multi-media, hi-tech “immersive” influences of reflective glass, video, and audio coalescing with spiritual images and coastal Pacific Northwest soundscapes, universal themes of Transformation — such as Raven’s “immaculate conception” — evolved with Singletary’s Raven and the Box of Daylight, fusing time-honored glassblowing traditions with Pacific Northwest Indigenous art to honor his ancestral Tlingit heritage, a tribe in southern Alaska.
Native Sound Summit
November 11, Singletary was featured during the innovative Native Sound Summit at the First Americans Museum, and in a public, evening discussion with Dr. Miranda Belarde-Lewis during the intermission of his ten-piece band’s, Khu.éex’ performance.
Meet Seattle-based Khu.éex’ on this November 4, 2022 YouTube post by Sea Grant Washington:
Tlingit heritage
Storytelling Through Collaboration
Tlingit (KLING-kit) culture and oral tradition have a rich history of pairing objects with foundational stories and histories of tribal families. By drawing upon this method of visual storytelling, Singletary’s art creates a spirited, theatrical atmosphere in which each object follows and enhances the narrative.
Indigenous Elders & Scholars
In 2000 Singletary received an honorary name from elder Joe David (Nuu Chah Nulth), and in 2009 Singletary received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, WA). Forty years of glass making, creating music, and working together with elders has put him in a position of being a keeper of cultural knowledge, while forging new directions in new materials and concepts of Indigenous arts.
OKCMOA Collaborative Events
A variety of programming will complement the exhibition, including a book club, lectures, glass blowing classes at Blue Sage Studios, and studio glass tours. These and other events are open to the public and are available at no cost or at discounted rates to museum members. For more information on becoming a member, visit okcmoa.com/membership.
PUBLIC EXHIBITION TOURS: STUDIO GLASS
$25 members/$35 non-members
Children 17 and under receive free admission to the Museum every day, including special exhibitions.
Register for an exclusive tour and conversation about OKCMOA’s studio glass collection.
These staff-guided tours will provide conversation-based insights and detailed experiences throughout Chihuly Then and Now: The Collection at Twenty, Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight, and more.
Tickets for Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight, and additional OKCMOA current event updates & details, are available online at okcmoa.com, in person, or by phone: (405) 236-3100.
CREDITS: Banner photo by Glenda Rice Collins.
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Glenda Rice Collins 