Empty Bowls raises money for hunger

The fifth annual Empty Bowls event on April 21 was a big success, raising more than $1,400.

The unique fundraiser, sponsored by the Department of Visual Arts, was organized by art studio major Mary Sheehy, who graduated in 2013.

Production of the bowls takes place in the ceramics studio run by Elizabeth Keller, professor of ceramics. Keller coordinates the selection of clay and glazes that are used. Faculty and students, some of whom have never worked with clay before, made ceramic bowls at the Bowl-A-Thon. Some bowls were "thrown" on the wheel, some were made by pinching, and some were made using slabs of clay cut according to templates and constructed into bowl shapes.

After the first firing of the bowls, a Glaze-A-Thon was held, according to coordinator Elizabeth Howie, and more volunteers came to glaze the bowls.

"This means that all bowls are made collaboratively; that is, the person who made the bowl was not the person who glazed it," said Howie. "The bowls were glazed primarily by being dipped into buckets of different colors of glazes. They were then fired a second time."

The firings were carried out by Keller and her students.

Soups were provided by faculty donors from a variety of departments throughout the University, as well as a couple of students. The bowls were sold at a range of prices depending on size and quality. Purchase of a bowl entitled the buyer to unlimited free refills of the homemade soups.

This year there were 150 bowls, a 50 percent increase over past years. There were about 20 different kinds of soup, and every bite was consumed, according to Howie, associate professor of art history.

The money raised by the event will be divided between the Shepherd's Table in Conway and Street Reach in Myrtle Beach.

Empty Bowls is a grassroots movement to help combat hunger: http://www.emptybowls.net/