Eben Horton, a glassblower with a studio in Wakefield, Rhode Island, loved hearing how glassblowers in Lincoln City, Oregon, had hidden special creations on a local beach for a community treasure hunt.
Inspired to do something similar, he settled on the idea of glass floats, the kind traditionally used on fishing nets.
The Block Island Tourism Council helped Horton launch the Glass Float Project. The council’s site has details.
“WHEN: The hunt begins June 2nd, 2012, and continues indefinitely. It only ends when all the floats have been found!
“WHAT: 200 Glass Floats (glass orbs about the size of a grapefruit) will be hidden on Block Island. Floats will be dated, numbered and stamped with the shape of Block Island. All floats are clear glass except for 12 (because it is 2012), which are special colored orbs. One super special float is made entirely out of gold leaf.
“WHERE: 100 floats on beaches and 100 floats on Greenway trails. Floats will be hidden above the high tide mark but NEVER in the dunes or up the bluffs.”
Understandably, they don’t want people walking on the dunes, which protect the island in storms.
Check the council website for the bio on the artist, too: “Eben creates custom one of a kind pieces on an individual basis out of his studio that he calls ‘The Glass Station’- a converted 1920’s gas station.” More.
