ART & CULTURE
Finders Keepers A tre a s u re hunt for g l a s s o r bs keep s t h e focus on the n at u ra l beauty of Bl o c k Is l an d
T
here are few adventures more exciting than a treasure hunt – and not all of them are reser ved for the plots of movies and books. Block Island is home to its very own type of finderskeepers quest, thanks to a local glassblower. When Eben Horton was 19, he hid his glass creations on nearby beaches. “I just thought it’d be a fun thing to do that would blow peoples’ minds when they found these things,” Horton says. Fast for ward to today – his fun
78
and casual practice has been transformed into The Glass Float Project, an epic, nationally known scavenger hunt on Block Island. Horton, who owns The Glass Station Studio and Gallery in Wakefield with his wife, Jennifer Nauck, conceived of The Glass Float Project in 2011. “As an artist, I was definitely a victim of the great recession, being a glass blower,” Horton states, explaining how he had an abundance of free time on his hands. Itching for something to do, he decided to hide glass, just
like he’d done when he was a teenager, but on a much larger scale. With a grant from the Rhode Island Council on the Arts, Horton created 150 blown glass orbs, and, with permission from the Block Island Town Council, hid his floats on the island’s paths and beaches. Thus, The Glass Float Project was born. Now, 11 years later, the project has grown and expanded into a well-known opportunity for locals and travelers alike, even garnering attention from CBS News and The New York Times.
Hey Rhody SUMMER JUNE 2022 |
HeyRhody.com
Photo courtesy of Eben Horton
By Megan Monte
