You don’t have to be an artist to help fill the empty bowls of hungry Houstonians. Free and open to all students, faculty and staff, as well as the public, participants in UH’s second Bowl-a-Thon make clay bowls to donate to Houston Empty Bowls, a local version of a nationwide grassroots organization dedicated to feeding the hungry.
The clay and tools will be provided and no experience is required.
Demonstrations on how to make a bowl will also be given by Lotus Witt, UH alumna and ceramics affiliate artist and co-chair for Houston Empty Bowls.
"UH contributed 75 bowls that were made at the 2007 UH Bowl-a-Thon," by several faculty and professional potters, as well as numerous students, Witt said.
All bowls made at the Bowl-a-Thon are then sold at the Houston Empty Bowls event scheduled for May 17, 2008, at the Lawndale Art Center and the Houston Center for Contemporary Crafts, both located on Main Street.
For $25, participants at the Houston Empty Bowls event in May are treated to a simple meal, live music and their choice of one of the donated bowls. 100% of the proceeds are then given to the Houston Food Bank.
For the last three years, Houston Empty Bowls has raised over $85,000, Witt said.
Our goal for next year is $100,000, she said.
Houston Empty Bowls also purchases and accepts donated bowls from local artisans, in mediums ranging from glass, wood and even paper.
The bowls created at the UH Bowl-a-Thon will not be painted and will be ceramic only but can be "more sculptural than functional" because "soup isn’t actually served in the bowls (in May)," Witt said.
The 2008 Bowl-a-Thon will be held from noon to 4 p.m. today in the Room 124 of the Fine Arts Building.
For more information, visit www.emptybowlshouston.org or e-mail Witt at [email protected].
