World renowned Tlingit artist Preston Singletary visits the University of Alaska Southeast

His artwork can be found in the British Museum, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and in Washington, D.C.’s Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

Juneau, Alaska

Date of Press Release: November 14, 2019

Preston Singletary, a world renowned Tlingit artist, visited the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) Juneau campus while in town this semester. Singletary presented in Associate Professor Wayne Price’s Northwest Coast Art Design course, discussing his journey as a Tlingit artist in relation to the history of Northwest Coast art which became a vehicle for learning about his own heritage.

Singletary is an internationally known glass artist, who has been working with glass since 1982. Once he mastered traditional European techniques, he began to incorporate Tlingit cultural components and ideas into his work. Singletary credits his great-grandmother from Sitka with teaching him about his Native heritage. Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) reports that his artwork can be found in the British Museum, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and in Washington, D.C.’s Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, to name a few of the museums in which he is featured. SHI describes Singletary’s creations as an expression of the strength of contemporary Native culture.

Visiting artists like Singletary are a feature of UAS’ Northwest Coast Art program through a partnership with Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Box of Treasures grant funded in part by a U.S. Department of Education ANEP Grant. Spring 2020 art courses with Professor Wayne Price include: Beginning Northwest Coast Carving, Intermediate/Advanced Northwest Coast Carving, and Beginning/ Intermediate/Advanced Northwest Coast Design. Most courses run on Tuesday and Thursday, January 13 through May 5, and both credit and non-credit options are available. Scholarships for qualified students are also available.

Find out more about Northwest Coast Art classes at UAS by visiting our class schedule site or by speaking to program coordinator Davina Cole at 907-796-6340 or by email (drcole3@alaska.edu).