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.

bowls, bowls, bowls...

Imagine/Render Studios, ready for some Empty Bowls action!

Empty Bowls season has now officially begun.  Last year I threw about 100 bowls for the October event in Asheville, and I aim to at least match that again this year.  A few bowls a day on the throwing schedule makes it an easy goal, and hopefully I'll gather some studio members into the frenzy as well.

Lisa & John, welcoming a participant from Tennessee

Imagine Render is the non-profit behind Empty Bowls -  John Hartom & Lisa Blackburn started the first one 20 years ago - and we in this area are very fortunate that they're based close by in Burnsville, and I'm honored to be a member of the I/R Board.  John has created a lovely studio looking out at rolling fields and mountains (with Lisa's VERY cool letter press/book making studio above), with a dedication to making and firing only bowls for Empty Bowls.  Today, working with the NC Clay Club, we're having an Empty Bowls event in part to thank all the past volunteers and to get the bowl making underway.  I say 'having', as it's still going on as I type.  I was happy to get out early and throw some bowls, but duties back at my own studio called me back to town before the party was over.

pal heather tinnaro & CGS member Matt Clark
& I went early to get things going

The studio is set up to show off the great facility, as well as some of the bowls that have been made, fired and donated by area potters.  Participants today will throw some, trim some, decorate some and then later tonight the Clay Club will meet and there will be general good-time-having.

by the time we left, the decorating/hand-building tables were filling,
and a second shift was moving on to the wheels

In and around my own studio schedule, I'll be trekking up to John's studio with other friends about once a month to make and decorate bowls there, plus the stocking of bowls will begin at Crazy Green.  If you're in the Asheville area and want to visit the studio and maybe throw a bowl (or 20) - let me know and we'll get you there!

We were greeted by a lovely Michael Kline vase,
recently acquired at his kiln opening

Rotarians & Kids Against Hunger (& me too!)

I spent this morning at Biltmore Park with the Rotarians and Kids Against Hunger, packing meals for quake victims in Haiti.  It was an incredible organized effort that gave people of all ages an opportunity to help out, and at the end of my shift, we had packed almost 65,000 meals.

a very well organized group of volunteers led us to our stations

we were a well-oiled machine!  our station ended up bagging about 550 meals

Kids Against Hunger is an international organization providing highly nutritious meals to children here at home and around the world.  While these meals we packed today are slated for Haiti, locally they have programs (this group operates through Mission Hospital) that package meals that are then distributed by MANNA FoodBank to hungry children in Western North Carolina.

And while I'm on the subject, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Empty Bowls Project, started by two of my local heroes, John Hartom and his wife Lisa Blackburn.  We've already started planning events for the Asheville Empty Bowls luncheon that takes place on World Food Day (October 16).  I'm working both with MANNA FoodBank (the beneficiary of the event) and with Imagine Render, the non-profit that founded Empty Bowls.  It's frustrating and challenging to acknowledge that in a world that does indeed have an abundance of food, hunger is a major issue in many countries and most often in all our communities.  So it's not something to celebrate that 20 years in we still need to bring awareness to the issue, but it is something to celebrate that for the past 20 years, the Empty Bowls Project has helped people realize their own power to effect change and help their community.

potter Heather Tinnaro & Empty Bowls founder John Hartom
at the 2007 Asheville Empty Bowls Luncheon

So we're shining a big spot light on Empty Bowls this year to mark the 20 year anniversary, and we're trying to find all sorts of big fancy famous folk to participate.  Why?  Well they have much bigger pulpits than most of us, and they can help bring awareness to a much larger audience.  Many already do, and in addition to latching on to those big, fancy, famous coattails, it's a good opportunity to acknowledge the work they do.  So if you know any big, fancy, famous people, or even any small, schleppy famous people, and you think they'd like to do a little something to help end hunger, have them contact me or Imagine Render (via my contact here or at the Empty Bowls website) and we've got a very cool project they can help with.  And hey, if any of the big/small/fancy/schleppy/famous folk I know want to help or have friends in that category who want to help, send them on too!

making bowls at the Imagine Render studio in Burnsville, NC

There's plenty for the rest of us too - I'll start throwing bowls for use in our Empty Bowls event soon, and I invite everyone who reads this to find an event in your area to get involved with.  Make a bowl, make some soup, help organize the event, buy a bowl!  No event?  Start one!  Or go and find your local foodbank and just ask them how you can help. 

It's gratifying to hear a couple hours work resulted in 65,000 meals, and while it's a drop in the hunger bucket, it also shows how easy it is to find a way to help. 

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!):

firing fun and some results

Fred Jr., my reduction kiln god

The week has been something of a blur, but I finally found the camera again and got a few shots from the firing. Hopefully I'll get more tomorrow when I take pieces to the gallery, and with any luck by the next firing cycle I'll be able to take work to a much more qualified photographer!

So this cycle I was able to dedicate three whole days to glazing, closing the studio for Labor Day (a more aptly named 'holiday' there never was!). This was a very good thing, as it allowed me time to take breaks but still not rush through the process. Most of this load involved the 'tree' pattern that I've been working on for multiple commission clients and now for the gallery, so not only time for the brush work, but since it's wax resist, time to let the wax dry.

waxed & glazed

My friend Eric called as I was getting ready to move work over to the glaze studio and asked if he could sneak in a firing, so that gave me another excuse to take some breaks, while he was loading and then unloading. It also meant I could hop up to Fork Mountain Pottery to see the Soda Chicks show. One of their visiting artists, Robert Briscoe, gave a demonstration workshop at Hinckley Pottery in DC back when I just started my pottery classes, and it was an impression that still holds today. I use one of his bowls I purchased at that workshop almost daily, and it was a great pleasure to be able to chat with him, share 'weirdo' reminiscences and pick up another couple of pieces that will certainly have daily use (the coffee mug is already in regular service). As well, he and Suze Lindsay very generously and graciously offered up bowls for the Empty Bowls collector's corner (event on October 16, get there early if you want a shot at either of these beauties!). It was the perfect break on the last day of glazing and before the load, and made me feel like I had an itty bitty weekend of sorts for myself.

bowl by Suze Lindsay

bowl by Robert Briscoe

Back at the studio, the final glazing leg went smoothly, and in spite of borrowed plate setters and using several smaller shelves and pieces as make-shift plate setters, I still could've used more shelves. But the load was going so well, I gave myself time to breeze through the Lexington Ave Fest, quickly visiting exhibiting friends and running through the ChoLo to get a piece of awesome chocolate cake that I would save as a reward once the kiln was candled.

Got almost everything in the load, but it was a much tighter load than I prefer, and once again there were several orphaned pieces that had to get gently wrapped and stowed for the next firing.

finally loaded

Ah - finished loading and it's only midnight! The three previous nights had gone till almost 2am in glazing, so it was a real treat to finish early and it made the prospect of starting the fire at 7am seem easy as pie. But wait...just when you think it's time to break open the chocolate cake reward, one of the pilots won't stay lit without holding the button in. The button, that seems to be boring a hole into the base of my palm while I hold it for 1 minute, then 5, then 10 ... then again, and again, and again...and then suddenly, it's 2am and both hands are numb and the pilot still has no action. Fine. Out comes the handy c-clamp, because 2am after three days of 2am is no time to make a rational decision on how to get the kiln lit. At least it can candle for a few hours while I grab some rest.

c-clamp is my best friend

Which, in hindsight, brings to mind that perhaps eating a large slice of oh-so-good chocolate cake while highly agitated at 2am is not the best decision for sound sleep. I did manage to nod off and had some very odd dreams before hopping up again at 6:30.

4 hours of forced warming was not enough to lull the thermocouple into working, so now it had to be dealt with. Phone calls, internet searches for avialable vendors (remember dear readers, it's Labor Day!), attempts by resourceful neighbors to trick the thermocouple back to work, more phone calls, a visit to Roots where my theory that the universe was in turmoil was confirmed with the news of a break-in, finally over to Clingman for coffee just in time for the first crash, and by early afternoon fabulous kiln-owner Laura had scored a replacement thermocouple from Gary, who built the kiln. So 6 or 7 hours later than intended, we got the burner lit!

fire is goooooood!

Such a happy sight, and nothing left to do but clean the studio, do the turn ups, get into reduction and not fall asleep beyond regular kiln checks.

and check out the newly rebuilt kiln door,
very sporty with purple supports!

Since the kiln started and thus ended much later than the normal schedule, it was a good thing that I had a gallery meeting in the morning and then the Empty Bowls class in the early afternoon on the day of the unload. Even by 5:30pm, it was still pretty hot when we cracked it, so I took the pup for a walk and let it cool off a bit.

A few images from the load - I delivered much of the commission work before the camera was found, and much of what's left is headed to the gallery. More pictures soon of work in place, and stay tuned for more news on the gallery in a separate post (or follow the link to the right!). Now sorting for the 2nd Saturday Market and OrganicFest this weekend, and starting the next throwing cycle tomorrow.