World’s Biggest Marble Hunt | Will Stuckenberg’s Story

Stuckenberg Studios

The founder’s story

The marble was only the beginning.

Will Stuckenberg understood what could happen when someone looked closely at a handmade marble. He wanted more people to have that moment. So he built an invitation around it: leave a piece of art for someone to find, give them a clue, and let curiosity do the rest.

As founder and creator of the World’s Biggest Marble Hunt, Will helped turn that invitation into a worldwide movement. It connected his life as a glass artist with an equally ambitious idea: art could send people outdoors, bring strangers together and introduce a whole new audience to the makers behind the marbles.

The groundwork began years before the first worldwide event. Through the Ozark Marble Hunters, Will experimented with local hunts and learned what made people want to join in. Social media gave the search a shared meeting place. A photograph and a clue could lead people away from their screens and into a real discovery.

Will acknowledges an earlier inspiration in Josh Simpson’s Infinity Project, which sends glass Planets into unexpected places around the world. He developed his own approach around active searching, shared clues and a community ready to celebrate each find. The excitement could travel from one person to the next.

July 23, 2016

An invitation the world could join.

In the Summer 2016 issue of The Flow, Will introduced the World’s Biggest Marble Hunt in an article called “Losing Your Marbles.” His invitation was open to artists, collectors, families and friends. Thousands of marbles were being prepared for a coordinated search beginning July 23.

The vision gave every participant a part to play. Artists could introduce their work to new people. Collectors could share pieces they loved. Someone who had never owned handmade glass could follow a clue and come home with a treasure.

Will brought the project together with collaborators, including Rebekah Parker, and encouraged participating artists to tell their own local newspapers and television stations about it. Much of his work happened behind the scenes. The story reached people through many different artists and communities, all connected by the same invitation.

His original article also encouraged people to create hunts of their own. A successful find was a beginning: enjoy that moment, then give somebody else the chance to feel it. Paying it forward became the idea that kept the adventure moving.

An idea that changed collecting

Find a marble. Discover an artist.

The effect reached into the glass community itself. Hunting introduced contemporary marbles to people who might never have visited a gallery or met a glass artist. A first discovery could lead to learning a maker’s name, following their work and starting a collection.

It also created another reason to buy handmade glass: to hide it. Collectors began purchasing marbles for other people to find, supporting artists while creating new adventures. Local groups developed their own traditions, locations and ways of welcoming newcomers.

That growing cycle of making, collecting and giving is a lasting part of Will’s influence on the industry. He created a project that other people could make their own. Artists, organizers and generous hiders gave it a life far beyond any single event.

2022 · A journey across the West

Seventeen checkpoints. Nearly 1,750 miles.

By 2022, the Hunt had grown into an adventure on a remarkable scale. A collection bringing together work from 158 artists, valued at $45,000, was displayed at the Clarke Historical Museum in Eureka, California. It would become the treasure at the end of a journey.

The hunt led teams through 17 checkpoints along roughly 1,750 miles, from Colorado Springs to Eureka. The Crescent City team Done Deal reached the prize at the end of the chase. A collection of glass had become the reason for a shared expedition across the West.

The event captured the larger spirit of the project: extraordinary artwork, a puzzle to follow and people willing to see where it would take them. Meanwhile, smaller hunts continued close to home, giving newcomers their own first taste of discovery.

Marble Hunt archive display of handmade glass, treasure chests and sand — From the World’s Biggest Marble Hunt archive

July 23, 2026 · The tenth anniversary

Hundreds of treasures. One generous idea.

For its tenth anniversary, the World’s Biggest Marble Hunt brought together 453 treasure chests and $69,032 in donated art and treasure. Instead of a single destination, there were hundreds of opportunities for a new adventure.

Each hider could choose a place, create clues and give the search a character of its own. That freedom was there in Will’s original vision: build something people can take into their own communities, then let their imagination and generosity help it grow.

Will’s legacy in the marble world is visible in both the glass and the people it connects. His work belongs to collections around the globe. The Hunt he created keeps opening a door for people who have yet to discover the art.

Somewhere, a marble is waiting. For the person who finds it, the story is just beginning.

Explore the World’s Biggest Marble Hunt Meet the artist

From Will’s archive · The Flow, Summer 2016

Read the invitation that started it.

Will’s original article, “Losing Your Marbles: The World’s Biggest Marble Hunt,” appeared on pages 22–23, before the July 23 launch. These pages preserve the invitation to hunt, share the art and pay the experience forward.

The Flow Summer 2016 article, page 22, by Will Stuckenberg — The original invitation, published before the July 23, 2016 launch.

The Flow Summer 2016 article, page 23 — Artists promoting their own hunts, and the invitation to pay it forward.

Pages supplied from Will’s personal copy. Article by Will Stuckenberg; magazine © 2016 The Flow. The photographs show work by several credited artists, not only Will. Select a page to read the original at full size.

Will’s space marble in the same issue

The Flow 2016 Marble Gallery page featuring Will Stuckenberg’s space marble — Will’s space marble is pictured at the upper right, credited to Will Stuckenberg / Branson Marbles. Other work on this page belongs to the artists named alongside it.

View the issue’s contents and article byline