IT ALL STARTED WITH kombucha bottles. Shelby Kaye and Chris Bogle were already seasoned artists when they relocated from Washington State to Cuyamungue, north of Santa Fe, in 2018 and began working with HoneyMoon Brewery to upcycle kombucha bottles into handmade drinking glasses.
But when sheltering-in-place orders made driving to glass recyclers difficult, the couple saw a need. “It spurred us to look at our municipal glass-recycling program here,” says Kaye. “Often people take products, dump them in the bin, and walk away. So we really started exploring.”
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Soon Kaye and Bogle were collecting glass all over town—an estimated 10,000 bottles in the past year. They grind, fire, and transform their haul into beautifully rendered vases and bowls, drinking glasses and candleholders, and meticulously designed terrazzo sculptures. Clear Topo Chico and green Twist of Grapefruit bottles, for example, get kiln-fired and blown out to create shapely Topo vases ($48). Every step of the way, sustainability remains a prime concern.
“Zero waste is a big goal for us. It’s part of our design, as well as our process,” says Bogle. “We try to keep our products minimal and multifunctional so they can be used in different ways in the home.”
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Broken Arrow Glass recently launched a membership-based doorstep glass-recycling program, along with a GoFundMe campaign to help finance an industrial glass crusher that could lead to the first glass-recycling facility for creative reuse in Santa Fe.
“We want to create a community around this work,” says Bogle.
Broken Arrow Glass
Broken Arrow Glass products can be purchased at the Taos Shakedown market (held Saturdays at Samwich Glassworks), and online.