ArtPeace Shakedown!

In 1990, a high school art teacher in Michigan helped his students solve a problem. They were searching for a way to raise funds to support a food drive, and what evolved was a class project to make ceramic bowls for a fund raising meal.

The basic idea for Empty Bowls is simple; participants create ceramic bowls, and then serve a simple meal of soup and bread. Guests choose a bowl to use that day and to keep as a reminder that there are always Empty Bowls in the world. In exchange for a meal and a bowl, each guest gives a suggested minimum donation of ten dollars. The meal sponsors and/or guests choose a hunger-fighting organization to receive the money collected. Any organization fighting hunger qualifies. Many groups choose to donate to organizations within their own community, while others choose to give their donations to national or international hunger relief. For more information about Empty Bowls, take a look at their website: www.emptybowls.net.

Join us!

Can you make a class project out of this? In addition to the art exhibition at Shakedown 2010, any teachers or students who are interested in joining our county-wide fundraiser are invited to donate their own Empty Bowls for auctioning. Not only will your students be creating artwork for a very important cause, they will also be participating in a community-service project! Any bowl will be accepted—ceramic, wire, glass, paper-mache, wood, etc. Each bowl will be put on display the weekend of the show, and then auctioned to the highest bidder. All proceeds raised will be donated to the Open Door Mission of Rochester.

There is a story about a man who left this earth and was taken on a tour of the inner realms. He was shown a room where he saw a large group of hungry people trying to eat dinner, but because the spoons that they were trying to eat with were longer than their arms, they remained frustrated. “This,” his guide told him, “is hell”. “That’s terrible!” exclaimed the man; “Please show me heaven!” “Very well,” agreed the guide, and on they went.

When they opened Heaven’s door, the man was perplexed to see what looked very much like the same scene: there was a group of people with spoons longer than their arms. As he looked more closely, however, he saw happy faces and full tummies, for there was one important difference: the people in Heaven had learned to feed each other. ~The Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, by Alan Cohen

Do you have a bowl to donate? Is your Art class interested in making bowls for this fundraiser? Let us know! Your class may be featured on the news!

Please contact event coordinator Sue Hollister via Email for more information!

Site by Mark Osterling