The NCN Collective in Prague

NCN Collective

The NCN Collective is a creative group of glass makers and Indigenous artists including Preston Singletary, Martin Janecký, Raven Skyriver, Kelly O’Dell, Charles Parriott, and Joe David. NCN stands for Nuu-chah-nulth, the tribe that Joe David comes from.

This group has come together and are all connected through Joe David, who has over the years, taken each one under his wing and bestowed a tribal name to them. This helped unite the group as an artistic family that has deep ties to the tribal community in many different ways. The NCN Collective has a connectedness through the medium of glass and interpreting Native themes and concepts through their work. 

Building on their work at their two week Artist Residency at the Museum of Glass, the NCN Collective recently visited Prague to create a new body of work. This collection will be featured in a to be announced museum exhibition.

Prague 2026

We all headed to Prague on September 28th to work there for two weeks. Joe David, Raven Skyriver, Kelly O’Dell (and their son Wren), as well as Charlie Parriott, Russell Johnson and Peter West. 

After our 2-week stint at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma this past Spring, we wanted to follow up with a work session in Prague. Åsa, my wife, joined me as well and she and Joe David experienced Prague for the first time. We had an amazing and productive session! 

Our spirits were high and we were inspired by the walking around Old Town where we stayed by the Charles Bridge.  We connected with old friends and found new focus. We were super productive in building our collection of pieces for a future museum exhibition.

At this point we have nearly forty pieces to consider for the exhibit. Our plan is to show a few of each artist’s individual work adjacent to the collaborative work we’re developing to show how our individual work feeds into the collaborative work. 

This team is incredible and we are blessed to have Joe David be our collective mentor and collaborator. His spirit and humor keep us all together and his direction and ideas keep us inspired. 

During the trip he bestowed Nu-Chah-Nulth names upon Charlie Parriott and Jonathan Brown, Martin’s erstwhile assistant, who’s solid efforts help us in immeasurable ways. We finished the trip with a stop up to Novy Bor, the historic glass region of Czech Republic. 

We did a demo of one of our mask forms and the entire community of glass workers came to support us and hang out. We loved the experience so much. Glass makers are like their own “tribe”. The camaraderie is a special one that capped off our time in Czech Republic. 

  - Preston Singletary

Video courtesy of the Museum of Glass: Recap of the NCN Collective Residency, July 2026