Glassblower, pipe maker, lampworker and artist are just a few titles that refer to the innovative creators who design the functional art that unites millions of cannabis enthusiasts.

This art form has been historically contended regarding its acceptability to society and validity as art. Despite its turbulent upbringing, the practice of crafting pipes has permeated many aspects of American culture and established itself as both a legitimate form of creative expression and a complex science.

“The industry has come a very long way since its emergence, which becomes apparent when browsing the reflective accessories and colorful sculptural smoking devices stored on their shelves.”

Glass has been used as a medium since ancient times but has only developed into a unique method of creating smoking devices in the past half-century. In the 1960s, just before glassblowing became a recognized way to make devices for smoking cannabis, it entered the fine art world through the work of artists such as Dale Chihuly.

Despite sharing the open flame and manipulation of glass as its basic properties, glassblowing for the making of pipes has been largely excluded from contemporary art institutions such as galleries and museums. In the 2016 documentary “Degenerate Art,” it’s shown that from its inception, rather than being praised in the mainstream, glassblowing has been deemed counterculture and, at times, forced into seclusion through criminalization.

“Degenerate Art” outlines the timeline of this movement and the moment it suffered a crippling blow from the U.S. government. In 2003, policies stemming from the war on drugs and federal regulations on cannabis led to many products created by master glassblowers being seized and their creators and distributors arrested in a series of early-morning raids titled Operation Headhunter and Operation Pipe Dreams. At this time, the Drug Enforcement Administration allocated the title “paraphernalia” to what could be considered “fine art” within a different context.

Going with its original occupational title, lampworking is not just a criminal practice or a form of fine art but also a complex science. Aesthetic considerations aside, every glass pipe of any form is made in the service of function. Whether it is a simple straight pipe or an eclectic assemblage of shapes and colors, the piece should have the capacity of use.

For a person with limited to no experience smoking or using glass products, it can be overwhelming walking into a well-rounded shop such as Fort Collins’ own Kind Creations. The industry has come a very long way since its emergence, which becomes apparent when browsing the reflective accessories and colorful sculptural smoking devices stored on their shelves.

Heading toward the back, you will notice that Kind Creations houses a glassblowing studio where artists create and develop new work. The shop is unique in this way and provides a space for experienced lampworkers to both create and sell their products in-house. Perry Norton, “Skye Perry,” and Jason Hedman are two artists working at Kind Creations who each have over two decades of experience.

“You’ve got your travelers, your bats and (your) spoon-type pipes,” Hedman said when describing the different forms and pieces of glass used to smoke. “You’ve got your two-piece pipes, which are like hammers, sherlock, sidecars, things like that. Then you branch out from there, and you’ve got your bubblers that you smoke flower out of, which are made a little bit different from the next step, which is your rigs.”

Rigs can be used for flower because it has the same basic function as a bubble.

“After that, you get into a more modern thing with the recyclers,” Hedman said. “Then after your recyclers, you’ve got your category of tubes or bongs, if you will. After that, it’s just art and creativity, like making an alligator, and the thing smokes.”

There are many shapes and sizes these pieces may assume, but it is important to know what it’s all made out of. The glass used varies, but the artists at Kind Creations use borosilicate glass. This material comes in rods and tubes of various sizes and can be heated to a melting point over a torch or lamp. Once the soft glass is melted, it can be manipulated by blowing and utilizing tools and movement to create the fantastic functional pieces known as pipes, bongs and rigs.

At first, artists like Perry and Hedman were limited to less than two dozen colors in addition to the clear borosilicate, but after several decades of development, the market has expanded to include hundreds of unique colors.

“When I started blowing glass, there was basically one color company,” Perry said. “There is a lot more science in that than in anything — just the manufacturing of the color — and that was something I had to start learning.”

With more color availability, the variability of each product is further enhanced.

“It’s all about flame settings and how you work those colors to how you get the end results,” Perry said. “You have to learn that process of how long to heat these colors and how long to put them in the kiln.”

Hedman’s lampworking career, which started in 1996, involved a lot of research and word-of-mouth due to the lack of technology.

When it comes to the balance of aesthetic appeal and function, Hedman explained that “function always comes first. … After that, it’s the eye appeal.”

“Even when I started, it was all about the functionality of it,” Hedman said. “At that time, everybody was using metal, wood or ceramics and stuff like that, and all those materials are porous, so when you’re smoking through it, the resin collects on the stuff, and after a while, it tastes like that and has a funkified flavor. Then, glass came around. (Glass) isn’t porous, so it doesn’t absorb anything like wood or ceramics would.”

Quoted from “Degenerate Art,” credited lampworker known as Slinger said, “It’s not just the fact that you can smoke out of it in terms of the physical function, it’s more the philosophy of the function. Pushing a bowl in it now connects it to this subculture.”

Reflecting on the nature of this topic, Perry said, “I think that, eventually, pipes are going to come around and be fully accepted as an art form.”