Empty Bowls - 20 years of fighting hunger!

Empty Bowls event at John Hartom's studio

Asheville Empty Bowls 2009

Next Thursday, October 14 is the annual Asheville Empty Bowls Luncheon at the Doubletree Biltmore Hotel (tickets available online via MANNA FoodBank, through me if you can find me, or at the door ... but I wouldn't wait that long!).

Two days later, October 16 is World Food Day, and that marks the 20th Anniversary of the very first Empty Bowls event.  What started in a Michigan school as a modest lesson about hunger has turned into one of the finest examples of grass roots social justice activism.  Communities coming together to help each other .. individuals finding ways to help each other and their greater community.  

The beauty of the Empty Bowls program is that anyone can do it.  Sure, you can get your whole school, community center, church, studio, etc. to join forces.  Much like the Empty Bowls Project class that meets at Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts.  

members of the 2010 Empty Bowls Project at Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts

Odyssey and Highwater Clays owner Brian McCarthy has donated tremendous resources in clay, glazes, firings and support staff for the past four years to help experienced and beginner potters make and provide the bowls for the annual luncheon.  

bowls by Asheville potter Paul Frehe

We have people from all around our community, some traveling an hour each way just to take part in the class.  We have guest instructors from all disciplines come to share their knowledge and passion for both pottery and fighting hunger.  We all do together far more than any of us can do alone.  That's the AnyONE.  Each of us doing our little part, added up makes a big ol' difference.  Whether you raise $60 or $60,000.  Each step is an important step.

Arizona

So here we are 20 years down the road from that small school luncheon.  A few words on hunger stats, and a simple request that when the guests take their hand made bowls home and enjoy them, they remember the number of empty bowls still out in the community.  A quiet hush that you still hear now just telling the story.  Yes, hunger still exists at obscene levels in all communities.  

But the more the Empty Bowls Project is talked about, the more people learn how they can do very simple things to make very big changes and differences in the lives of those in their community who may need a little or a lot of help.   One little event in a Michigan school, and now there are events around the world.  

Alberta

And that's well before the time of an idea 'going viral'.  There are many Empty Bowls events that happen year-round, and many, like the one here in Asheville, that are scheduled to coincide with World Food Day. 

Becca Floyd & John Hartom in the Empty Bowls studio

Houston

Australia

Minnesota

Next Thursday we will have the annual luncheon, where for a $25 ticket you can select from hundreds of beautiful, handmade ceramic bowls, enjoy a delicious lunch and learn more about what MANNA FoodBank does for the many counties it serves and how easy it is to help.  

Arkansas

We have a growing selection of specialty pieces in the Collector's Corner that will be for sale, and all proceeds will benefit MANNA FoodBank.

 (far L&R): Lisa Blackburn & John Hartom

Then on Sunday, October 17, Blue Spiral 1 Gallery will host a special auction event to commemorate the 20th Anniversary, and Empty Bowls founders John Hartom and Lisa Blackburn will be honored.  At Blue Spiral, you can see the auction items on display now in the gallery, and you can also see and bid on them online, even if you can't attend the actual event.  Some of the items are bowls and other art pieces in ceramics, wood and glass that have been donated by area artists.  

Ontario

Oregon

In addition, we have an eclectic selection of 'celebrity bowls'.  Flat Rock potter David Voorhees made each bowl, which was then signed by celebrities, including Paula Deen, John Glenn, Henry Winkler, Jeff Gordon, Roy Williams and more (go look and see!).  Odyssey again hosted a special event where Asheville area artists (not just potters!) were invited to decorate the bowls.  At the auction site, you can learn a bit about the celebrity as well as the artist who decorated the bowl.  Tickets to the auction event are also available through MANNA FoodBank.

Olympic Peninsula

So as we approach World Food Day, why not check in your own community and see if there's an Empty Bowls event.  Attend it, volunteer to help run it, or if you can't find one, go to the Empty Bowls website and learn how you can start one for your community!  It doesn't have to be a huge city-wide event.  You can make a pot of soup, host an event at your house and sell 10 tickets.  That makes a difference to a Food Pantry.  

Winnipeg

Chicago

Here in Asheville, our event is larger than that sure. MANNA FoodBank has a very large area it serves, and the need has been greater in the past year or two than ever.  The statistics that come out with recent Hunger Reports are overwhelming, and it's easy to just curl up and cry 'what can I do?!'. Well for me, I can make a bowl.  And that bowl will be sold for $25.  And with each dollar raised, MANNA can provide three meals.  I can't personally feed 75 people or write a check to cover that expense.  But I can make a bowl.  Heck, I can make a few.

Vermont

I have a friend and colleague in Wisconsin who I know because of Empty Bowls.  We haven't met (yet), but we certainly share a passion for pottery and for this cause.  After her first Empty Bowls event, she went back to her studio and wrote on her wall: "It is an honor to make dishes for people to eat off of, but it is a greater honor to make dishes so that others may eat...".  Indeed.

Empty Bowls

This weekend, Crazy Green Studios will be participating in two events for Empty Bowls, and if you're in the Asheville area I hope to see you at one or both!

Friday, October 16 is the annual Empty Bowls Luncheon to benefit MANNA FoodBank. This annual event brings together many facets of the Asheville creative and business community to support MANNA, who in turn supports people throughout western North Carolina.

The Doubletree Biltmore donates a great space for the event, which takes place from 11am - 2pm. Inside, you'll find bowls from potters near and far, adult and child, small and large! With your $20 ticket, you'll be able to select one of these beautiful, handmade bowls as your own. In addition, you'll find other donated pieces for sale in the "Collector's Corner", and this year the event will also feature a silent auction of other art work. All these pieces have been donated by the people who make them, and by students in area schools.

Some potters send a bowl or two, others, like David Voorhees, organize events to make and decorate over 100 bowls. And at Odyssey Center for Ceramic Art, a special class is offered where each week features a guest potter demonstrating various bowl making and decorating techniques. The students in that class, along with students from other classes and rental studio members, will send over 300 bowls to the event. And then there are potters from all over the area who are making bowls and sending them to the event, giving everyone who comes a wide range of hand made gorgeous-ness to choose from!

And if you always wondered how we get these beautiful bowls from a simple lump of clay, two brave, local potters will be throwing bowls for the crowds (and will take requests if given truffles).

demos will be done on this very wheel,
and you can try it out if you want!

The collector's corner will feature small sets, larger pieces and art pieces, and some pieces come from beyond our region. In Viroqua, Wisconsin, the Empty Bowls event is a dinner that happens on Saturday, October 17.

poster for the Viroqua Empty Bowls dinner

Devorah Yahn is one of five potters who make the bowls for their event, and she dedicated herself to throwing 200 bowls for this year's dinner. She and I have traded pieces for our respective events (adding drama to the excitement by shipping as late as possible!), so be sure to look for her beautiful vases, either in the Collector's Corner or perhaps at the Silent Auction.

Heather Tinnaro & John Hartom at last year's event:
this year, Heather and I will be throwing bowls!

And then there's the food! Area restaurants (like 12 Bones, Corner Kitchen), bakeries (like West End Bakery) and confectioners (like the French Broad Chocolate Lounge) donate delicious soups, breads, cookies, truffles and beverages, often served up by the chef who made the dish.

All of this is done so that the entire ticket price of $20 can go to MANNA FoodBank. With each ticket sold, MANNA can provide food for 60 meals, so in addition to enjoying a delicious lunch and fondling your new handmade bowl, while you're there you can learn more about what MANNA does for our community. And more importantly, perhaps you can learn more about what YOU can do to help beyond the lunch!

But wait, there's more!

On Saturday, Biltmore Park hosts their Fall Festival, which will be great fun for the whole family. If you've been following along, you know that Biltmore Park is also home to Echo Gallery, where I am a coop member.

Echo Gallery will be hosting a tent during Fall Fest, and we'll have bisque-fired bowls and underglaze paints available for those who feel like letting their artistic freak fly a bit by decorating a bowl. The decorated bowls will be glazed and then sold in Echo Gallery to benefit MANNA FoodBank. It's going to be a great, chilly fall day - come out and enjoy the Festival and paint a bowl for MANNA!

In closing - while I was writing this, I was scanning my files and online for images, and just out of curiousity I 'googled' Empty Bowls and looked at the images view. I think this is just incredible - I'm only posting a small portion of what I found, and not all are for this year, but I couldn't resist sharing some. Hunger is not something that occurs in other places or to any specifically 'special' group of people. It's here, it's everywhere, and it happens to many, many people in all our communities. That's the bad news. The good news is this (to see more, google it!):

Crazy Green Studios & East West Asheville to host Empty Bowls Event for MANNA FoodBank!

Join us at Crazy Green Studios for a hands-on event to benefit MANNA FoodBank on Saturday, April 11, 2009.

The event will run from 10am - 3pm, and will offer many ways for you to support MANNA FoodBank, learn about what they're doing to end hunger in Western North Carolina, and how you can help:

* decorate a bowl that will be used in the annual Empty Bowls luncheon on World Food Day
* purchase a t-shirt from Imagine/RENDER to support Empty Bowls
* bring some canned food or other non-perishables for MANNA FoodBank
* purchase beautiful handmade pottery - all proceeds go directly to MANNA FoodBank

Representatives and information will also be on hand from both MANNA FoodBank and Imagine/RENDER, so you can learn more about how hunger issues affect our community and how easily you can help.

Crazy Green Studios is located at 15B Domino Lane, site of the upcoming 2nd Saturday Artist Market. For more information, contact Lori at Crazy Green Studios (lori 'at' crazygreenstudios.com).