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Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Singletary, Preston, 1963-  Search this
Interviewer:
Savig, Mary, 1982-  Search this
Subject:
Chihuly, Dale  Search this
Cribbs, Keke  Search this
Dailey, Dan  Search this
David, Joe  Search this
Feddersen, Joe  Search this
Garcia, Tammy  Search this
Gardiner, Lewis  Search this
Hauberg, John H. (John Henry)  Search this
Jojola, Tony  Search this
Jungen, Brian  Search this
Libenský, Stanislav  Search this
Luna, James  Search this
Marioni, Dante  Search this
Marioni, Paul  Search this
Martinuzzi, Napoleone  Search this
Moore, Benjamin P.  Search this
Royal, Richard  Search this
Svenson, David  Search this
Tagliapietra, Lino  Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.). George Gustav Heye Center  Search this
Pilchuck Glass Center (Stanwood, Wash.)  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place of publication, production, or execution:
Washington (State)
Physical Description:
8 Items, Sound recording: 8 sound files (3 hr., 48 min.), digital, wav; 55 Pages, Transcript
General Note:
Originally recorded on 3 memory cards as 8 digital sound files. Duration is 3 hr., 48 min.
Summary:
An interview of Preston Singletary conducted 2011 March 23-24, by Mary Savig, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Singletary's studio, in Seattle, Washington.
Singletary speaks of his family background, especially his Tlingit heritage and his grandmother; his early interest in music; his job at the Glass Eye Studio in Seattle; his formative years as a glass blower in Seattle and at Pilchuck Glass School; his early styles and processes in the modern Venetian tradition; his interest in Tlingit motifs; early mentors including David Svenson, Joe David, and Tony Jojola; collaboration in the studio with other glass artists and other native artists who work with various media; his interest in the modernist primitivist art movement; the character of significant exhibitions and commissions; his collaborative project with David Svenson and native Alaskans on the Pilchuck Founders' Totem; how he met his wife in Sweden; descriptions of his processes and techniques, including lighting techniques; his retrospective at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma and the Smithsonian's Gustave Heye Center in New York; current and future directions of his work; the character of his studio, including the contributions of his assistants; collaborations with other native artists including Tammy Garcia, Joe Feddersen, and Maori jade carver Lewis Gardiner; his interest in Jungian psychology and shamanism; his relationship with critics, collectors, and dealers; and his involvement with native communities. Singletary also recalls Dante Marioni, Paul Marioni, Benjamin Moore, Lino Tagliapietra, Dale Chihuly, Dan Dailey, Stanislav Libensky, Napoleone Martinuzzi, David Svenson, Keke Cribbs, Joe David, Tony Jojola, John Hauberg, Richard Royal, Tammy Garcia, Joe Feddersen, Brian Jungen, and James Luna.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Preston Singletary, 2011 March 23-24. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Funding:
Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
Biography Note:
Preston Singletary (1963- ) is a Tlingit glass artist in Seattle, Washington.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Glass artists -- Washington (State) -- Interviews  Search this
Modernism (Art)  Search this
Primitivism in art  Search this
Tlingit art  Search this
Tlingit  Search this
Tlingit sculpture  Search this
Native American artists  Search this
Glass art  Search this
Theme:
Native American  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)15931
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)299007
AAA_collcode_single11
Theme:
Native American
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_299007