Glass is used in every part of our daily life. It is used everywhere from store windows at the mall to the windshields of cars.

But for one group, glass has an entirely different purpose — creative self-expression. The Gaffers’ Guild, a campus group for glassblowing enthusiasts, offers students a chance to create art using the common material.

Instead of creating flat pieces of glass, the Gaffers’ Guild lets its members shape and mold glass through the process of glassblowing — where melted glass can be shaped and inflated by blowing through a long iron tube.

And the club is doing a little better since its beginning.

“It was first outside in a shed,” says Steve Martin, adviser to the Gaffers’ Guild. “They would blow glass in the snow if it snowed and blow glass in the rain if it rained.”

Today, the glassblowing studio is inside Sweeney Hall. Members of the club have to go through a safety training process that limits the number of members.

“Given the limited studio space and the amount of glass that we have, only 20 to 25 people can take the [safety] class a semester,” says Mark Jacobson, president of the Gaffers’ Guild.

Jacobson, who has been a member for more than a year, says his roommate was the first to make him aware of the club but the glassblowing course he took left him even more intrigued.

“Going through the class sparked my interest quite a bit,” Jacobson says. “It’s enjoyable, it’s a nice break from class, it’s a constructive activity.”

The history of glassblowing dates back long before the club was born at Iowa State. Martin says the early beginnings of glass art in America can be traced back to the late 1960s.

“[There were] art glass movements across the United States,” Martin says. “Individuals were setting up glass blowing studios.”

Before the movement in the United States, glass blowing was an art form with historic roots.

“The Romans did it 2,000 years ago,” Martin says. “After that, the Italians developed glass blowing into a really fine art.”

The fine Italian art has caught Jacobson’s interest as well.

“One thing I find quite impressive is Venetian stemware,” Jacobson says “[They are] very intricate, fragile and beautiful glasses.”

The movement sparked the interest of David Martin, a ceramic engineer who studied glass at Alfred University. In the late ’70s he helped create the group at Iowa State.

Today, students practice glassblowing by making all sorts of objects. Kristin Snobeck, sophomore in art and design and a newcomer to the Gaffers Guild, says one kind of glass product has come naturally to her.

“Paper weights are my forte,” Snobeck says. “[They] are cool to make and everything, but I would like to be able to make a glass or a cup.”

The finished products aren’t the only diverse aspect of the club. Membership to the group doesn’t consist solely of art students like Snobeck.

“You would think that all of them would be hard-core art students, but it’s so random,” Snobeck says. “I was the only art student in my Saturday class.”

The glassblowing process is not easy to learn, Jacobson says, but if a student sticks to it, they can improve their output.

“It takes some time and you can always progress — there is a lot of potential to learn and become better,” Jacobson says.