Entry No. 31 — the Providence file — filed under: glassblowing
The Glass Station Studio and Gallery
Eben Horton opened the Glass Station in 2000 inside a 1920s gas station, hot shop in the old garage, and stayed 18 years before he and Jennifer Nauck — his wife and fellow glassblower, 49 combined years at the pipe — moved into a renovated auto showroom at 446 Main Street in 2018. The front is an 1,800-square-foot gallery carrying more than 40 North American glass artists; the furnaces run in the back. Horton is also the man behind the Glass Float Project: since 2011 his team has blown roughly 550 numbered glass orbs a year and hidden them along Block Island's beaches and greenway trails from June into October, finders-keepers, one per person per year. In fall, one-hour ornament classes ($65, ages ten and up) put you at the bench choosing colors while an instructor shapes as you inflate.
→ Three at a time, never the same twice — explore weird Providence
The story
Eben Horton first blew glass in high school in Newport and then went and collected the full pedigree: the School for American Crafts at RIT, Penland, the Corning Museum of Glass, Urban Glass. In 2000 he put a hot shop into the garage bay of a 1920s gas station, called the operation the Glass Station, and ran production out of the back with a small storefront up front. He stayed eighteen years.
Jennifer Nauck came at the material from the other direction — Estes Park, Colorado, self-taught, working her way up through studio jobs. She and Horton met at a Philadelphia trade show in 2011 and married in 2019, and between them they have roughly forty-nine years on the pipe. In 2018 the whole operation moved into a renovated auto showroom at 446 Main Street in Wakefield: more than 1,800 square feet of daylit gallery carrying work by forty-plus North American artists and studios, with the furnaces still running behind it. South County has voted it best gallery in the county three times, in 2019, 2023 and 2024.
The reason people outside Rhode Island know Horton's name is the Glass Float Project. Modeled on Japanese fishing-net floats, it started in 2011; he and Nauck now make upwards of 550 orbs a year, each dated and numbered, and volunteers hide them along Block Island's beaches and greenway trails from June into October. Trail floats sit within a few feet of the path, beach floats between the bluffs and the high-tide line, and ecologically touchy ground is left alone. You keep one per person per year and are asked to re-hide any extras; the Facebook group of self-identified "Orbivores" runs to about eleven thousand people. CBS News, PBS and the New York Times have all sent someone. If you would rather not comb a beach, the gallery sells floats over the counter.
What it's like
Check in ten minutes before your slot; the gallery is the front room, so you browse forty-odd artists' work before anyone hands you a pipe. Classes run 3:30 to 4:30, ten people maximum, ages ten and up. Jen and Eben walk the group through the process and the tools, you pick a color from the Glass Station's own colorways, and then the sequence is glass heated, color applied, Eben shaping while you do the blowing. It is loud, bright and furnace-adjacent, so dress for sweating. The thing to plan around is the anneal: your ornament cools overnight in the kiln, which means you collect it the following day. Build the weekend around that or arrange a pickup, but do not drive home expecting to carry it out.
The move: Tonight's move is booking: grab two $65 spots in a September or October 3:30pm ornament class, then plan the Saturday around it — gallery and hot shop first, oysters at Matunuck Oyster Bar ten minutes away after. Your ornaments cool overnight, so you owe yourselves a second South County drive.
📍 Before you go Gallery is open seven days (Mon-Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5, closed major holidays). Classes are ages 10+, capped at 10, and don't run mid-July through mid-August because of studio heat; fall 2026 dates are Sept 12, 19, 26 and Oct 10, 17, 24. Ornaments cool overnight — pickup is the following day. Non-refundable; 48 hours' notice to reschedule.
- 📍 Wakefield
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 446 Main St, Wakefield, RI 02879
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- The Fantastic Umbrella Factory — About nine miles further down Route 1 in Charlestown, five acres of overgrown 1968-vintage farmstead and outbuildings — the unmanicured counterweight to an hour of precision work at the bench.
- Frosty Drew Observatory & Sky Theatre — Also Charlestown, ten miles from Wakefield, but Friday nights only, so it is the evening before a Saturday class rather than the same day — which conveniently gives you a reason to stay over for next-day ornament pickup.
- Gather Glass Blowing Studio — The city version of the same craft on Atwells Avenue, with four-person classes and an age-eight minimum, if a South County round trip plus a return leg for pickup is more commitment than you wanted.
More weird in Providence
Good to know
How much is the ornament class, and how do I get a spot?
$65 a person, booked through the studio's own site, capped at ten people. Fall 2026 dates are September 12, 19 and 26 and October 10, 17 and 24, all 3:30–4:30pm; October 10 was already sold out when we checked. There is a separate add-on purchase if you want to make a second ornament in the same hour.
Can I take the ornament home the same day?
No. It cools overnight in the kiln and pickup is the following day. That is the entire reason this is a two-day plan rather than a single afternoon, so either stay over in South County or budget a second drive.
Can I visit without booking a class?
Yes, and it costs nothing. The gallery is open seven days — Monday to Saturday 10–5, Sunday 12–5, closed major holidays — and carries fine art glass from more than forty North American makers, jewelry, drinkware made on site, and Block Island floats. Call 401-788-2500 to confirm before a long drive.
Why can't I book a class in midsummer?
Classes stop from mid-July to mid-August because of studio heat; a working hot shop in a Rhode Island heat wave is not a room you want to stand in for an hour. Classes are non-refundable and need at least 48 hours' notice to reschedule.
Will they make something custom for me?
They will change size and colors on pieces they already produce, for a surcharge of at least 20%, but they are not currently taking commissions for new art pieces — though they will introduce you to artists they represent. They ship glass nationally and internationally.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · blockislandinfo.com
last checked: 2026-08-25