All About
The Glass Float Project
A Public Art Installation and Scavenger Hunt by Eben Horton
What is The Glass Float Project?
The Glass Float Project is a participatory art installation and scavenger hunt located on Block Island, Rhode Island. Every year since the project's inception in 2011, artist and glassblower Eben Horton has created and then concealed hundreds handblown glass floats along the trails, beaches, and public spaces of the island. Fashioned after the Japanese fishing floats that sometimes wash ashore for lucky beachcombers to stumble upon, the glass floats are handmade treasures meant to offer moments of magic to those who come across them.
The project's purpose is to create moments of magic and discovery in a world where so much is immediately accessible. To those who find a float with no prior knowledge of the project, the surprise of discovery is the entire point. For those who travel to the island in pursuit of a float to call their own, Eben considers the project a success regardless of whether a float is found - instead, success is measured by time spent exploring, living in the moment, and reveling in the journey.
The History of the Glass Float Project
Eben spent his childhood sailing the 25 nautical miles between his family’s home in Newport, RI, and Block Island. Summers spent exploring the shores, waters and trails of the island cultivated a deep love and respect for the island and its natural beauty.
At the age of 16, Eben started blowing glass. Though the Glass Float Project wouldn't be conceived of for over a decade, it was then that he first began hiding glass in natural places. The cracked and otherwise unsellable pieces he created were too beautiful to discard, so Eben gave them a new life by secreting the work away on the beaches of Newport, leaving treasures for others to discover.
Finally, in 2011, Eben's secret hobby grew into the first incarnation of The Glass Float project. With the support of a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Eben created the first 150 floats, modeled 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 the floats 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 that first year. Eben, his wife Jennifer Nauck, and the team at The Glass Station 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, 2025, the first 25 numbered floats will be colored, the rest will be clear glass.
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.
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