[WUVIE]

Ever since I learned about the Empty Bowls Project for charity, I have
been so excited at the thought of working with clay enough to develop
the ability to make a few bowls for the event in our area next year.

Have any of you participated in this wonderful event? Please share your
experiences, and perhaps a photo of the bowls you shared, or intend to
share.

I hope I'm not cross-posting, I couldn't find anything in the search section.

Be sure to check the calendar for upcoming events, perhaps in your area.

EMPTY BOWLS PROJECT - COMMUNITY CALENDAR

[buckeye]

WUVIE, on 01 November 2011 - 07:13 PM, said:

Ever since I learned about the Empty Bowls Project for charity, I have
been so excited at the thought of working with clay enough to develop
the ability to make a few bowls for the event in our area next year.

Have any of you participated in this wonderful event? Please share your
experiences, and perhaps a photo of the bowls you shared, or intend to
share.

I hope I'm not cross-posting, I couldn't find anything in the search section.

Be sure to check the calendar for upcoming events, perhaps in your area.

EMPTY BOWLS PROJECT - COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Thanks for the link! I was checking it out and it looks like one will be here in Ohio later this month!

[teardrop]

The event I participated in was held Aug 23rd, 2011 in Colorado.

I wedged 150- 1/2 lb lumps of clay and kept the 3-4 potters sitting at the wheels "stocked". It took about 4 hours to work up 150 bowls.
Later in the week we bisque fired them and then there was a glazing party

This year many of the folks who participated last year are asking for clay and tossing bowls as they can over the year. Hopefully by making the bowls along the way they will not only be larger/nicer offerings...but also less of a madhouse/crazy couple of days like we had this year!

I'll try to get some pics from someone else who was in attendance. (I was too busy wedging/trying to keep up with the potters!)

definitely a fun and worthy event.

teardrop

[Marcia Selsor]

I have participated in Empty bowls projects and it sounds good that someone is supplying the clay. I usually throw about 30+ bowls in the morning at one of the sponsoring colleges. It is nice for a potter not to have to supply the clay and glazes and firing from my own supply stock.
I always thought there should be a business sponsorship along with the potters donating their skill and time. Sounds like you have a good system.
We have a big Empty Bowls in the Rio Grande valley for the Rio Grande Valley Food Bank.. There is another up in Houston and up in San Antonio. We have a lot of hungry people in Texas.
I still think there should be more community involvement in some places where businesses supply the soup, or the materials for the bowls and the potters come in and throw donating their skill and time. Empty Bowls is a great project and has been around for many many years and is a great service to help those who really need it.
Marcia

[grayfree]

I am participating in a local event this year for the first time. I have always been busy or out of town and wanted to go but have not made the event yet. Unfortunately will be out of town this year. But my bowls will be in attendance. I always thought they ate out of the soup bowls and then got to take them home but apparently not at this event they just set a token bowl at your seat and you take that home. Is that how it is everywhere??? Why not get bowls you eat out of????? I thought that the whole point????

[teardrop]

My understanding is that the "Empty bowl" represents those people in the world who have no food to put in their bowl.

Here it is a luncheon-type event put on by the local Salvation Army. You pay for lunch and participation in the event as your way of making a monetary donation, and as a result you recieve one of the bowls that were created for the event as a symbol of your recognition of world hunger/etc.

Great event. Great cause!

[TJR]

I did this one year with high school students at my school. I got a $500.00 grant to cover clay and glazes. I bought several cheap plastic bowl shapes from the dollar store.We press molded the bowls in these forms. We had a speaker come in and talk about World Hunger. Students would pay $5.00 for a bowl, they would make and decorate it with coloured slips. I would dry the bowls, bisque them, glaze all of them with a clear glaze and then fire them to cone 04. The Home Ec. dept. made several soups and we had a meal. I had hoped to raise $5000.00 with the event. I did not succeed, but I still had fun doing it. I think an elementary school would have been more successful. Our students were reluctant to part with their dollars. We also had celebrity radio personalities come in to make bowls which we auctioned off.
Good event, it's just that my students were a bit saturated with Christmas food hampers etc. Good luck with your event.
TJR.

[SmartsyArtsy]

Empty Bowls Event in Ballard, Seattle was held March 18. During the 3 hour event, we raised $9700 for our local Ballard Food Bank!

Local business supplied soup, bread, coffee. Potters supplied bowls, some glazed and some not. At various get togethers prior to the event, the non-glazed bowls were decorated by illustrators and other artsy people. Some woodworkers also donate bowls.

[teardrop]

TJR, on 15 January 2012 - 04:58 PM, said:

I had hoped to raise $5000.00 with the event. I did not succeed, but I still had fun doing it. I think an elementary school would have been more successful. Our students were reluctant to part with their dollars.

We started making some bowls last night to donate to our local event....so I thought I'd ressurect this thread again as a reminder to others who may be inclined to participate that...um.... >time's a wastin'<...as my Grandma used to say...

I missed your comment above TJR. Sorry to hear ya didn't make your goal. Sounds to me like there's a sizeable group of students at your school who need to be locked out of the schoool cafeteria (at the very least) until they figure out what "HUNGER" truly is and how fortunate they really are.

teardrop

[Pres]

teardrop, on 12 April 2012 - 07:52 AM, said:

TJR, on 15 January 2012 - 04:58 PM, said:

I had hoped to raise $5000.00 with the event. I did not succeed, but I still had fun doing it. I think an elementary school would have been more successful. Our students were reluctant to part with their dollars.

We started making some bowls last night to donate to our local event....so I thought I'd ressurect this thread again as a reminder to others who may be inclined to participate that...um.... >time's a wastin'<...as my Grandma used to say...

I missed your comment above TJR. Sorry to hear ya didn't make your goal. Sounds to me like there's a sizeable group of students at your school who need to be locked out of the schoool cafeteria (at the very least) until they figure out what "HUNGER" truly is and how fortunate they really are.

teardrop

I am also donating to the local event at the Altoona Junior High School. I participated last year and will do so again this year. great project, small amount of work gives great community return.

[Marcia Selsor]

We have one in the Rio Grande valley that supports the Rio Grande valley Food Bank. Several colleges participate and the event rotates up and down the valley annually.