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Photo by Kevin Anderson

Marble artist Mark Matthews demonstrated his craft at last year’s Marble Crazy in Bonner Springs.

Fitting the universe in the palm of your hand won’t be as difficult as it sounds this weekend.

With featured marble artist Gateson Recko leading the way, anything is possible at The Moon Marble Company’s Ninth Annual Marble Crazy event, which will take place on Friday and Saturday.

About 20 glass-blowing artists will be on hand at the event to demonstrate their skills and show off their work. Recko, from Swedesboro, N.J., is known for his large marble creations that, when looked into, reveal an entire universe full of stars and planets.

“I just wanted a way to treat our customers to meet some of the artists that have been represented in our gallery,” said Moon Marble founder Bruce Breslow as he took one of Recko’s universe marbles out of the display case to show off.

While Breslow started the event nine years ago as a way to fill the slower winter months, he said his company had always been community minded. In addition to the Marble Crazy event, the store also organizes one of the city’s biggest events, Marble Days.

“I feel like a community is very important,” he said. “When I created the business, I wanted to go back to my past, to the stores I remembered as a child. That’s when it was about more than just making money.”

Breslow said he was hoping that the community returned the favor this weekend by showing up to enjoy the experience of seeing exactly what it takes to create a marble. He said he expected about 3,000 people to attend, so he and his staff had been busy clearing space in the store to make room for all the activities.

The artists will mostly focus on marbles during their demonstrations, but Breslow said many would also bring other pieces of their glass-work collection to display and sell. Tables will be scattered throughout the store, and visitors can walk around viewing the different techniques of the artists.

There will also be a marble-making machine on hand that was created following the designs of the first machine made in 1905. Breslow says this year’s machine is bigger than last year’s and should be an interesting sight to see.

The Marble Crazy event will start at noon and end at 9 p.m. Friday, March 6, at Moon Marble, located on Kansas Highway 32 just west of Highway 7. The event will continue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 7. Visitors can park in the city parking lot on Cedar Street, and the Tiblow Transit system will take people to the store.

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 8, patrons have one more chance to catch the action at the Kansas City Marble Club’s collector show in the ballroom of the Double Tree Inn, 10100 College Blvd., Overland Park. At this show, artists and collectors will display and sell antique and contemporary marbles.

Admission to the events at both locations is free. For further information, contact The Moon Marble Company at (913) 441-1432

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