Following the Raven: Figge Art Museum Presents Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight

Davenport, Iowa (February 11, 2026) – This winter, the Figge Art Museum presents Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight, an immersive exhibition that brings ancestral storytelling into the present through glass, sound, and light. On view February 14 through August 2, 2026, the exhibition invites visitors to step inside an Indigenous creation story that continues to shape how people understand their world, their communities, and themselves.
 
Rooted in Tlingit oral tradition, the exhibition centers on Raven, a powerful trickster figure who transforms the world by releasing light. Rather than treating this story as something fixed in the past, Singletary approaches it as a living narrative, one that evolves as it is retold, reimagined, and shared across generations. His glass sculptures, paired with music, soundscapes, and immersive imagery, create an environment where story is not simply observed, but experienced.
 
As visitors embark on a multisensory journey from darkness into light, they move through the galleries, following the Raven’s path as the world shifts from shadow into illumination. The exhibition unfolds as a sequence of environments, echoing the structure of oral storytelling itself, layered, rhythmic, and communal.
 
“What excites me about this exhibition is how naturally it invites people to experience it together,” said Melissa Mohr, Executive Director and CEO of the Figge Art Museum. “Opening Raven and the Box of Daylight on a Second Saturday, when admission is free and the museum is filled with movement, music, and making, sets the tone for how this story has always been shared: openly, across generations, and in community.”
 
This exhibition reflects Singletary’s decades-long practice at the intersection of Indigenous storytelling and contemporary glass.
 
Singletary, an internationally acclaimed artist of Tlingit heritage, is known for fusing European glassblowing techniques with Northwest Coast Indigenous design principles. By working in glass, a material shaped by breath, heat, and time, he expands expectations of what Indigenous art can be, while honoring the cultural knowledge embedded in formline design, animal spirits, and imagery of transformation.
 
“Singletary’s use of glass allows the story to feel both intimate and expansive,” said Vanessa Sage, Co-Senior Curator at the Figge Art Museum. “The material carries light, movement, and reflection in ways that mirror how stories move through communities, shaped by many voices and open to interpretation.”
 
Through Singletary’s work, visitors are invited to slow down, follow the story, and consider how meaning is shaped over time and shared over time, through art, memory, and community experience.
 
Opening Day and Public Programs:
Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight opens on Saturday, February 14, Second Saturday at the Figge, with free admission for all, supported by the Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All initiative with additional support provided by Constance Bosson Runge. Opening day programming includes live storytelling, music, artmaking, and gallery activities designed to welcome visitors of all ages into the exhibition.
 
A public exhibition celebration and artist talk with Preston Singletary will take place on Thursday, February 19 from 5:00-8:00 pm.
 
Exhibition Credits and Supports:
Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight is organized by the artist and Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington, and curated by Miranda Belarde-Lewis, PhD (Zuni/Tlingit). The multisensory visitor experience was designed by zoe | juniper.
 
The exhibition’s presentation at the Figge is made possible by the Figge’s Major Exhibition Endowment Fund with support from Shaun and Vicki Graves (Silver Sponsor), Constance Bosson Runge (Premier Sponsor), Caroline Kimple, Carolyn Levine & Leonard Kallio Trust, and Tyson Foods (Supporting Sponsors), John and Nancy Danico, Bill and Christine Gallin, GoGo Enterprises, LLC, Wynne and David Schafer, Schafer Interiors, Deann Thoms, and Mark and Barbara Zimmerman (Contributing Sponsors).

 

About the Artist:
Preston Singletary (Tlingit/American, born 1963) is internationally recognized for glass sculptures that explore the relationship between Tlingit culture and fine art, often engaging in Tlingit mythology and traditional designs and using music to shape his contemporary perspective. He began working in glass in 1982 in Seattle, attended Pilchuck Glass School, and developed his practice through decades of making and collaboration. His work is held in major collections, including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, The British Museum, and the National Museum of Scotland, among others.

 

Opening Day Programming:
Second Saturday, February 14 | Free Admission & Activities
Celebrate the opening of Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight with a full day of free, gallery-wide experiences designed to welcome visitors of all ages into the exhibition through shared movement, music, making, and storytelling.
 
Scheduled Activities

• 10:30 am – Free Yoga at the Figge with Becky Nakashima-Brooke (Illuminate Healing Studio), Museum Lobby
• 11:00 am-3:00 pm Art Cart in the Collection Avenue with Figge docents
• 12:00-1:00 pm Native American Storytelling, Singing, and Drumming with Larry Lockwood (Northern Cheyenne Nation; Native American Coalition of the Quad Cities), Museum Lobby
• 1:00 pm – Second Saturday Sketchbook Club with Figge instructor Laura Warner
• 1:00-3:00 pm Art Making! Create mini masterpieces inspired by Singletary’s work, Museum Lobby
• 1:00-3:00 pm Gelli Printmaking with Gina: Create a raven-inspired print, Studio 4