Hundreds of people in the community turned out Friday to raise thousands of dollars to help fight hunger in the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser. People lay down 20 dollars, get a hand-made ceramic bowl and a hot-soup lunch, while supporting the cause.
Local ceramicists and potters, some of them students and others community artists, donated their time over months to hand craft some 1500 bowls for the event.
“It’s all about a simple meal of soup and bread in a handmade bowl to remind us of the empty bowls in the community and to give a little bit back each year," said Errol Willett
Syracuse University professor and coordinator of ceramics Errol Willett says the artists are just the beginning of the collaboration…15 local restaurants and bakeries donated food and made it; five local farms gave up vegetables for the soup; even the clay for the bowls was donated by Clayscapes Pottery.
Much of the coordination was done by the Shaped-Clay Society…President Claire Thibodeau says she was – and wasn’t - surprised by the record crowd and outpouring of support.
“This is such a wonderful event and it’s not just in Syracuse; it’s nationwide Empty Bowls. Being a first-year graduate student at Syracuse University, I’ve never seen a university so tied into the community and people so active in wanting to crate a better environment for their local city.”
The artists held group events to turn bowls, glaze them, and fire them in kilns. Willet notes most of that work stays anonymous…which fits the event.
“Potters have a strong community and there’s a real community sense when we get together to make things this way. The bowls themselves though are not signed; they’re just signed ‘Empty Bowls. No one’s trying to push their own style or their own marketing through this project.”
People are anxious to get the goods…and support the cause. The event raised 21-thousand dollars for the Interreligious Food Consortium last year…and judging by today’s crowd, expected to break the record this year.
