Collection: The Glass Float Project
When Eben Horton conceived of The Glass Float Project in 2011, he had no idea that it would become the entity it is today. What began as a fun personal project intended to allow him to spend more time on Block Island has become a world-famous art installation that has changed many lives. In the 13 years since the project began, it has garnered nationwide attention in The New York Times as well as on such television programs as Weekends with Yankee on PBS, This Old House, and, most recently, CBS Sunday Morning.
Eben spent his childhood sailing back and forth between his family’s home in Newport, RI, and Block Island. Summers spent exploring the shores, waters and trails of the island developed in Eben a deep love and respect for the island and its natural beauty.
Eben began blowing glass at the age of 16, and it was then that he first began hiding glass in natural places. He found the cracked and otherwise unsellable pieces he created too beautiful to throw away. He gave them a new life by hiding them on the beaches of Newport, leaving treasures for others to discover.
In 2011 the hobby grew into the first incarnation of The Glass Float project. With help from a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Eben created the first 150 floats, modeling them after the Japanese fishing net floats that occasionally break free from their nets and float up onto beaches worldwide. With permission from the Block Island town council, he began hiding them on the beaches and greenway trails that connect conserved parcels of land on the island.
The project has grown in scale and fame in the years since then. He and his wife, Jennifer Nauck, and the team at their studio, The Glass Station Studio and Gallery in Wakefield, RI, now make upwards of 550 floats every year. They are dated with the year and numbered between 1 and 550. The number 1 float is always something extra special, and the first few floats, the amount corresponding to the current year, are brightly colored. This year, 2024, the first 24 numbered floats will be colored, the rest will be clear glass.
A team of volunteers, some of whom began as die-hard “Orbivores,” hide the floats, a few at a time, from June until October and sometimes beyond. The floats are hidden on beaches and greenway trails or other public areas. Hiders are conscientious and never hide them in the dunes, bluffs or other ecologically sensitive areas. Trail-hidden floats can be found within a few feet of the trail, and floats hidden on the beaches will be between the bluffs and the high tide line.
Part scavenger hunt, part interactive art installation, The Glass Float Project attracts itinerant float hunters from across the country to the island. When a float hunter finds a float, they are encouraged to go online and register it with the Block Island Tourism Council. Social media posts to The Glass Float Project’s Facebook group always follow and are met with love and support from the growing 18,500-member community of Orbivores. Float hunters are asked to only keep one float per person per year. If they find more than one, they are encouraged to rehide it so someone else can experience the joy of discovery.
The project is now funded by the Block Island Tourism Council and through the sale of raffle tickets every year. The raffle is held in October, when the float hunting season officially concludes (but continues unofficially). Prizes include Glass Float Project merchandise and other hand-blown glass items created at The Glass Station, as well as prizes like a Make-Your-Own-Float class or even the chance to become a float hider the following year.
You can become a member of The Glass Float Project Facebook community here.
Float hunters can register their floats at www.blockislandinfo.com/glass-float-project
Float Hunting Tips:
- Floats are hidden within 18 inches of the sides of greenway trails and along the beaches between the high tide line and the bluffs.
- They will never be hidden in the bluffs, in beach grass, on private property or areas where the public is not invited to walk.
- While they are sometimes hidden in the nooks and crannies of stone walls, you do not have to tamper with or take apart walls to find one.
- Look up! Sometimes they are hidden in trees.
- Please respect vegetation. Do not "beat" the plants along the trails or in downtown areas.
- Floats will not be hidden in the cemetery, near the Rebecca statue, or in tended gardens/pots.
For everything you need to know about traveling to Block Island, where to stay, where to eat, what to do and more, visit the Block Island Tourism Council website, www.blockislandinfo.com
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NEW Glass Float Project - Solid Colored Float
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $90.00
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- $90.00
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Glass Float—clear
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $45.00
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- $45.00
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Glass Float Project - Colored Float
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $90.00
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- $90.00
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Glass Float Project Sterling Silver Earrings
- Vendor
- Everyday Artifact
- Regular price
- $51.00
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- $51.00
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The Glass Float Project Necklace
- Vendor
- Everyday Artifact
- Regular price
- from $40.00
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- from $40.00
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Engraving Fee - Add an Engraving to Your Glass!
- Vendor
- Misc. Glass Station
- Regular price
- $15.00
- Sale price
- $15.00
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Hanging Colored Float Ornament
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $100.00
- Sale price
- $100.00
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Hanging Clear Float Ornament
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $75.00
- Sale price
- $75.00
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Block Island Coaster Sets
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- from $30.00
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- from $30.00
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Women’s Glass Float Project T-Shirt
- Vendor
- Willywaw
- Regular price
- $32.00
- Sale price
- $32.00
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Glass Float Project T-Shirt
- Vendor
- Willywaw
- Regular price
- $28.00
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- $28.00
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Glass Float Project Onesie
- Vendor
- Willywaw
- Regular price
- $24.00
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- $24.00
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Youth Glass Float Project T-Shirt
- Vendor
- Willywaw
- Regular price
- $20.00
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- $20.00
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Block Island Sterling Silver and Crystal Pendant
- Vendor
- Leightworks
- Regular price
- $74.00
- Sale price
- $74.00
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Glass Float Project Tea Towel
- Vendor
- Willywaw
- Regular price
- $14.00
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- $14.00
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Market Tote bag
- Vendor
- Willywaw
- Regular price
- $20.00
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- $20.00
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Collection Orb
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $50.00
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- $50.00
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Block Island Paperweight
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $100.00
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- $100.00
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Block Island Stemless Wine Glass—No Foot
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $45.00
- Sale price
- $45.00
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Block Island Classico Cup
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $48.00
- Sale price
- $48.00
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Colored Block Island Stemless Wine Glasses
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $45.00
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- $45.00
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Lighted Base
- Vendor
- Misc. Glass Station
- Regular price
- from $44.00
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- from $44.00
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Block Of Block Island
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $250.00
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- $250.00
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Ship’s Whiskey Glass
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $42.00
- Sale price
- $42.00
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5 Clear Glass Floats on Beach Framed Photo
- Vendor
- Willywaw
- Regular price
- $125.00
- Sale price
- $125.00
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Ship's Whiskey Decanter
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $150.00
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- $150.00
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Glass Float Project Patch
- Vendor
- Misc. Glass Station
- Regular price
- $10.00
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- $10.00
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Clear Float on the Beach Framed Photo
- Vendor
- Willywaw
- Regular price
- $125.00
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- $125.00
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Token
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $10.00
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- $10.00
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Glass Float Project Pumpkin
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- $75.00
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- $75.00
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Large Block Island Conservancy Anniversary Commemorative Float
- Vendor
- The Glass Station
- Regular price
- from $500.00
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- from $500.00
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Rhode Island Sterling Silver Charm Necklace
- Vendor
- Everyday Artifact
- Regular price
- $62.00
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- $62.00
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