Empty Bowls is a fundraising project that donates its proceeds to organizations that fight hunger. This term, proceeds will go towards local organizations the Listen Center, Haven and Willing Hands, and to New York's City Harvest. Funds are raised at a simple dinner of soup and bread which is provided by the Hanover Inn and served in the handmade ceramic bowls. Ticket buyers pay $10 to partake in the dinner, and keep the bowl as a reminder that hunger and empty bowls still exist. The project was started in 1990 by two high school potters from Michigan and has grown over the past 15 years into an international anti-hunger organization.
Dartmouth's Empty Bowls project was the result of a collaborative effort between artist-in-residence Sana Musasama and the ceramics department. Musasama's work is driven by social awareness for the world's ills, especially issues like female circumcision, foot binding, rape and prostitution. She has been inspired by her travels around the globe, particularly to Africa -- a continent that is no stranger to hunger and poverty.
"Empty Bowls took place about five to six years ago, but we hope this time will be different," said Jennifer Swanson, director of the Davidson pottery studio. "It's been great how receptive the Dartmouth students are to the project."
No previous pottery experience was necessary to participate in the bowl-making workshops. Beginners could take around 20 minutes out of their schedules to come in and make their own bowls by putting clay in a drape mould. More experienced potters worked with the pottery wheel.
No two bowls look the exactly same. They are all beautiful, but also functional -- the glaze used is food-safe and makes the bowls more durable.
"They're wonderful to use," Swanson said. "Everyone is entitled to have beautiful things."
Students went to the workshops with their floors, classes or other friends. Studio art professor John Lee brought his sculpture class to the workshop.
"It gave them a chance to work in clay [instead of wire], and to experience more mass and volume," Lee said. He also stated that he hoped the experience would teach his students about an artist's social responsibility, and how an artist connects with the rest of society.
After a bowl is made, it is passed on to another person to be glazed and fired, and finally given to a ticket buyer at the dinner. In this way, the sharing of the bowls creates a sense of an artistic community.
Indeed, the project brings the idea of giving and receiving to a whole new level. The bowl itself symbolizes cupped hands, a gesture of giving. Around 500 people from Dartmouth and the Upper Valley are expected to be at the dinner.
"The dinner is an excellent way to link students and community members in hunger awareness and aid. I really appreciated the opportunity to make one of the bowls -- I feel like I had a chance to more actively participate in the event," Emily Eros '09 said.
In order to allow more students to participate, the Tucker Foundation bought 100 tickets for students to attend for free. Students can go and pick up these tickets in person from Tucker, or purchase regular tickets from the Hop box office. The dinner will be held in Alumni Hall on Feb. 20 at 5 and 7 p.m.
