The Yerkes Observatory has been an important cultural touchpoint for well over a century where some of the most astounding scientific discoveries in recent memory have been made. It’s often referred to as the “birthplace of modern astrophysics,” with the moon Titan being first found here among several noteworthy achievements.
In spite of all the current changes in ownership and ongoing remodeling being conducted at the nationally preserved site, the historical research institute still remains a popular educational resource and tourist attraction embraced by the nearby residents of Williams Bay at large. In fact, this holiday season, the significant place has become home to another record-breaking feat and a communal source of winter celebration, now hosting the World’s Tallest Glass Tree produced by entrepreneur Rob Elliot and envisioned by artist Jason Mack, now bringing together an assorted amount of people from all around the globe for cheerful Christmas festivities and giving back to the local community by actively fighting against the increasing effects of global warming.
Opening up for the third year in a row, the art exhibition continues to grow, with the glass tree now reaching the lofty heights of 36-feet tall, only becoming even more towering every passing winter and completely dwarfing the next contender for the world record. Moreover, all of the necessary resources used to construct this massive installation come from a heartwarming origin, being made out of recycled glass bottles that would have otherwise simply been thrown away and left to rot in a garbage landfill for decades, all donated by the local community and with visitors having the exciting option to add onto the ever-expanding piece themselves. Furthermore, any guests are more than welcome to participate in ongoing glassblowing and woodworking demonstrations, alongside shopping at the holiday market and fueling up on offered concessions.
Discussing the tumultuous experiences of putting together this annual event and how the current celebration will aid the community as a whole moving forward, here is producer Rob Elliot sharing his personal thoughts on the matter and answering some prevailing questions.
Why specifically construct this piece at the Yerkes Observatory? What made this place stand out more compared to other options out there?
Truthfully, I was drawn like some weird magnetism. It was right when they were starting to remodel it after the ownership change had taken place. Through some friends, I was able to get a tour while it was under construction. I walked through there like “we’ve got to do something here.” I want to build a giant glass tree out front with a friend. It was the first thought I had. It’s just such an incredible place and then you look at why glass right?
It’s home to the largest refractor telescope which is an incredible feat, to make a lens that size, especially considering they were doing it over a hundred and twenty some years ago. They also house the largest collection of glass tile images of space and the cosmos, over 185,000 in their library. Yerkes was the first place to ever strap a camera to a telescope. They teamed up with Kodak back in the day. Prior to that, these people were looking through there and then drawing what they were seeing.
It also invokes inspiration. The first year we did the event there, Yerkes wasn’t open for tours and dozens of people were up against the windows, peeking in, trying to get a view of what it’s all about. You just see the wonder in people’s eyes. So to add such a novel fun glass tree to it and create this winter wonderland incites excitement. It just seemed right. And they said yes! Not many are open to a giant glass tree in their front yard.
How was this installation itself put together?
We dropped collection receptacles all over town. We start collecting glass from the community, wine bottles, jars, crazy old stuff that’s been sitting in the basement for six years and you don’t know what to do with. We collect that in three different spots throughout the area.
Then Jason will arrive with his mobile furnace, and the tree is already here, and basically it’s an erector set or big carnival ride. The structure itself is a big steel framework on a spinning turntable with a giant bearing and a bunch of spikes that stick out that catch the glass when we start dripping it on, spooling it around like making cotton candy. We do that for about six days until there is about 3,00 pounds of glass on it.
That’s part of it too, is the community gets to actively add glass if they want to. They can purchase a $10 experience and we will hand them a hot rod with glass on the end of it which is a really exciting and fun thing for all ages honestly. Kids love it but so do adults. They see where their bottle goes. We put it in the bin, we crush it up, we shoveled it into the furnace, and they get to contribute. It’s full circle. Then when we’re done, when everything comes down, we take that glass off, put it in rubbermaids, bring it back to the studio, and make small commemorative trees.
We just keep reusing the same material.
What was the stirring source of inspiration behind the tree? What made your mind instantly go “I need to put this out into the world”?
Jason and I have been friends since junior high, in the eighth grade. We have always been creating and building things together, just having a lot of fun honestly. When he was seventeen, he took a bead making class with his mom on a Saturday and came back to the house. We hung out that afternoon and he showed me how to work the glass. I was like “let’s build a studio.” So we did that in his basement, started selling glass to our friends, making beads and hemp necklaces.
Fast forward a couple of years, where we both go to college. He’s studying steel sculpture with a focus in glass. I’m studying recreation and tourism management with a focus on large scale events. We live together and we have this old derelict warehouse under a bridge that this guy used to let us use for free. We had this big space, like a 10,000 square foot warehouse. We had this furnace that Jason and I had built but we couldn’t afford glass.
I worked at a bar and I was like “let’s cut a hole in the top of a garbage can, spray print the logo on there, bring it in, and see if they give us bottles”. So that is how it started with one bar with one trash can. There really was no glass recycling program in Central Illinois at the time, so it was a novel idea to people. Then once a week, we would go with the El Camino and pick up all these bottles, go to the car wash and clean them because they stunk of fruit flies, bring them to the studio and crush them up. I would throw some big party, we’d have some bluegrass band, and a couple hundred people come to our factory.
Typically, for a glass blower, the holidays are like their bread and butter, making and selling ornaments. We were wondering how are we supposed to get people to come here and buy everything. Shoot, let’s build a big glass Christmas tree and put it out on the loading dock. People could see it from the highway and started coming to our studio which was super successful.
It was only like 12 feet tall back in the day but the grand vision has always been let’s build a glass forest. We want to build an event space with hundreds of these trees made with post consumer glass, with grasses, mushrooms, little critters, and rain clouds of all different sizes of shapes and colors all in one place you can come and visit, learning about recycling.
We’re like “how do we even start with that concept yet and wrap people’s minds around it? Let’s build a giant glass tree.” So in 2020, Jason brought the idea back and self produced it down there. It was a small operation, a little gift shop. The whole time I was working behind the scenes trying to find a place and thinking, “Hey, we got to get this thing out of central Illinois where more people can see it, where there are hotels and infrastructure.” In 2021, Jason beat his own record. He added the star and made it a bit bigger. In 2022, we landed the Yerkes spot which was like getting to play Carnegie Hall which is so cool with all of the history there. Here we are, three years later, and still having fun.
Are there certain parts you are glad have changed or improved in your opinion over the years?
Truthfully when you put your waste in the bin at the end of the road, it doesn’t get recycled. Only 10% of the stuff does, the rest goes to the landfill. That’s a problem in my mind, especially with restaurants which produce a lot of glass waste. A bottle in the ground will last a million years. At the same time, you could take that bottle, crush and melt it, make the exact thing repeatedly without losing a single property. So part of our mission is to keep this glass out of landfills and make sure it stays in the manufacturing industry. Last year through our efforts, we collected over 17 tons of glass in less than a month and whatever we don’t use for the tree is sent to our partner Strategic Materials Incorporated so everything stays in the stream.
The exciting part is all these bars and restaurants are contacting us, literally bringing glass to my house and leaving stuff in my driveway. We needed to find a more logical way of dealing with this, so we started working with the Glass Recycling Foundation and the Glass Packaging Institute creating year round collecting in Southeast Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.
The fact we get to help spreadhead this idea in the area is super thrilling. It’s been a thorn in our side for a long time because our garbage trucks are exactly that. There aren’t enough people and vehicles out there to handle all of the need and demand. So we are slowly creating those systems through other recycling companies.
With over 20,000 visitors each year, the celebratory attraction is still open the weekend of the 14th-15th for those interested in spreading some Christmas cheer at a monumental historical landmark and witnessing a record-breaking art installation, with a hand-blown glass star being added to the very top on the final closing night and crafting classes still ongoing. In addition to these winter festivities and extra activities, folks can also directly help out the natural environment and learn about the out-of-this-world history of the special observatory.