Our Story
AO Glass — a hotspot where craftsmanship and design meets a creative community. Our vibrant, one-of-a-kind glass factory/studio/store is located in Burlington, Vermont, more specifically on Pine Street in the South End Arts District.
We a team of designers, artists, engineers, glassblowers, engravers, coldworkers, quality controllers, teachers, and store managers that carries 20+ years of family-owned, locally-made glass craftsmanship & work experiences in VT under our belt.
Rich Arentzen and Tove Ohlander co-founded AO Glass in 2007. Their story began back in 1994 when they met at Sweden’s legendary National School of Glass in Orrefors. Between 1998 and 2005 they operated a glass studio in the Oslo area in Norway, together with Kari Håkonsen, Vidar Koksvik, and Lars Kvaerne. Rich Arentzen is American and Tove Ohlander is Swedish. Their two very different glass traditions and aesthetics shaped AO Glass into what it is today. The foundation of AO Glass is based on the Swedish glass factory model.
At the10,000-square-foot space on Pine Street we craft everything from sleek high-end lighting components to homey glass gifts and classy tableware and branded glasses. We are working in top-quality Swedish glass from Glasma in Småland—where raw material science meets centuries of glass tradition.
AO Glass is a “protector of the craft of glass” - literally keeping the fires burning while providing jobs and contributing to Burlington’s creative economy as a manufacturer of glassware and hand blown glass components with national clients.
