QUAX Glass Duck Charms: The Jeep Easter Egg Hidden in Butler, PA’s Community Mosaic

If you drive a Jeep, you may have found a rubber duck on your hood or door handle. In Butler, Pennsylvania, there are glass ones hiding in a wall.

Butler, PA Glass Rubber Duck Charm in the Community Mosaic on the side of the Historic Penn Theater

When we built the community mosaic for the Penn Theater in Butler, we tucked ducks into the design as an Easter egg. Most people walk past and see a colorful mural. Jeep people look closer, and they get the joke. The mosaic was unveiled during Steeples & Stacks Heritage Weekend, where visitors also took part in a public mosaic experience.

Glass Rubber Ducky in the Butler, PA Community Mosaic on the exterior of the Penn Theater

Why ducks in the Birthplace of the Jeep?

Butler is where the American Bantam Car Company designed and built the first Jeep prototype in 1940. Willys-Overland and Ford went on to mass-produce it for the war effort, but the story starts on Butler’s West End.

Jeep owners return every June for the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival. Friday night, Jeeps line downtown Butler for the Jeep Invasion. The weekend continues at Cooper’s Lake Campground with off-road trails and a Jeep Playground obstacle course, mud pit included. Plan your trip through Visit Butler County.

QUAX Mystery Box Rubber Ducky Charm from the Jeep birthplace, Butler, PA

A town with that much Jeep history deserved a duck or two in its mosaic. Jeep ducking, the practice of leaving a rubber duck on another Jeep, started in 2020 and turned into a community tradition. Our ducks are glass.

What is a QUAX Mystery Box?

Every box hides one handmade glass duck, and you won’t know which until you open it. QUAX ducks are rubber-ducky charms formed in borosilicate glass by US glass artists and strung on a lariat lanyard. Clip one to your keys, your phone, or your trail pack.

Common Yellow: most of the flock
Rare Blue: turns up less often
Ultra Rare Purple: the one collectors chase
Secret Art Rare Mystery Ducks: one-of-a-kind artist pieces we keep off the product page on purpose

Sneak peek at some of the RARE QUAX Duck Charms that are hidden in the mystery boxes

The ducks in your box come from the same flock that landed in our Butler mosaic. They hopped the pond for the the community mosaic built at the International Festival of Glass in St. Helens, England, at The World of Glass. They were made by the same hands.

Rubber Ducky swimming in The Hotties at the World of Glass Museum in St. Helens, UK

A duck for the Jeep person in your life

A blind box gives them the unboxing, and a glass duck is a keepsake that nods to Jeep ducking without being left on a windshield. It also works as a stocking stuffer or a festival-season gift.

Open a box and see who’s inside → Shop QUAX Mystery Boxes

Butler, PA Community Mosaic from the Steeples and Stacks Festival 2026 - mounted on the exterior of the historic Penn Theater — Can you spot the three Rubber Duckies hiding in the mosaic mural?

FAQ

Why are there ducks in the Butler, PA mosaic?
They’re an Easter egg for Jeep fans, a nod to Jeep ducking and to Butler’s title as the Birthplace of the Jeep.

What are QUAX ducks made of?
Borosilicate glass, handmade by US glass artists.

Can I choose my duck?
No. Each box contains one random duck. Colors are Common Yellow, Rare Blue, and Ultra Rare Purple, plus a few Secret Art Rare ducks.

How do I carry or display it?
It’s strung on a lariat lanyard, so it works as a charm for keys, a phone, or a backpack.

Details of Ceramic Tiles created in collaboration with Jessica Liddell of Bella Mosaic for the Butler, PA Community Mosaic on the exterior of the historic Penn Theater — Ladle to represent the steel industry in Butler, PA – tile created in collaboration with Jessica Liddell of Bella Mosaic

Ladle to represent the steel industry in Butler, PA – tile created in collaboration with Jessica Liddell of Bella Mosaic

Inside a Week-Long Glass Artist Residency at Adams Central Elementary

Community Project, kids classes, Uncategorized

In September 2025, the Hastings Tribune covered a week-long artist residency I led at Adams Central Elementary in Hastings, Nebraska — and it’s a great example of what an in-school glass art residency can look like from start to finish, so I wanted to give it a fuller recap here.

The Inspiration: Patty Talbert’s North Omaha Positive Affirmation Project

Every residency I bring into a school starts with an artist and an idea worth borrowing. For this one, we looked at the work of Omaha artist Patty Talbert, whose North Omaha Positive Affirmation Project uses public art to put messages of self-worth directly into the community.

Students spent time with Talbert’s approach — art as affirmation, not just decoration — before writing their own. Those affirmations became the design language for everything that followed.

Students created Shrinky Dink affirmations in the style of Patty Talbert, artist-in-residence program funded by Nebraska Arts Council

What the Students Made

The residency worked on two tracks, which is typical of how I structure a school visit:

A take-home project for every student. Each student used their affirmation to design a piece in Shrinky Dinks — a fast, accessible material that lets even the youngest students walk away with something finished and personal on day one.
A large-scale, permanent installation. The fifth-grade class took the concept further, designing and building a glass-on-glass mosaic “legacy window.” It now hangs permanently in the school — this was actually Adams Central’s second legacy window; an earlier class built one a few years prior that still hangs in the cafeteria.That two-track structure is intentional: individual work that goes home with a family, and a collective piece that stays behind as a lasting mark on the school itself.

Students adding glass to a collaborative window — Students creating glass art through artist residencies for elementary schools in Nebraska.

Why Schools Book Artist Residencies Like This

A residency like this does a few things a single art class period can’t:

Gives students a finished, professional-grade artwork in a medium (glass) they don’t normally get to touch
Creates a permanent installation that becomes part of the school’s identity — something alumni, staff, and families point to for years
Connects classroom learning to a working artist’s real practice and a real community art project, not just a generic craft

Students worked in groups to design a glass mosaic legacy window for permanent installation in their school
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Funding: Nebraska Arts Council Artists in Schools & Communities Program

If you’re a Nebraska teacher, PTO member, or administrator picturing something like this in your own school: residencies like this one are eligible for funding through the Nebraska Arts Council’s Artists in Schools & Communities (AISC) program. I’m on the NAC roster and can help walk your school through what that process looks like.

Interested in a residency at your school? Get in touch — I’d love to talk through what’s possible for your students.

Carrie Strope is a Lincoln, Nebraska-based glass and teaching artist working under the name Calyx Glass, and a Nebraska Arts Council Artists in Schools & Communities roster artist.

Completed Painted and Mosaic Mural in Islandview

Creating Community: Michigan Glass Project Mosaic in Islandview

Community Project, mosaic

The Michigan Glass Project Community Mosaic was built during the three day art and music festival, June 21-23, 2024. Festival doors opened at noon each day and participants built the mosaic between noon and 7:30-8pm daily. Here is a visual journal of the project coming together from design to installation during the Murals in Islandview Festival held September 23-28, 2024.