Project Empty Bowl
In 10 years Empty Bowl has fed thousands. It began when John Harton, a teacher in Bloomfield, MT, asked his high school ceramic students to make enough bowls to give a luncheon for the school staff. For $5 each, the guests received a simple meal of soup and bread, served in one of the handmade bowls. Guests were asked to accept their now empty bowls as a gift and to keep them as a reminder of all the empty bowls that still need filling. The money raised was donated to the local food bank.
The energy of those young potters, their teacher and their guests breathed life into what has become the Empty Bowls Project. Since then, groups of potters have raised and donated over $1,750,000 to organizations like A Loving Spoonful that fight hunger.
The premise of Empty Bowls is profoundly simple and has been repeated thousands of times by small groups and large. A few people get together to create bowls. They invite guests, as many as they have bowls, to share a simple meal and to donate a small sum, which provides food to those in need. In return, guests take home their empty bowl as a reminder of the continuing hunger within their own community.
In 1997, Rachelle Chinnery of Mudslingers Clay Studios brought the concept of Empty Bowls to A Loving Spoonful. They had the blessing and enthusiastic participation of the Potters Guild of British Columbia and the Canadian Craft & Design Museum. Together, they created Project Empty Bowl as a benefit for A Loving Spoonful.
In March 2004 we will produce the 4th bi-annual Project Empty Bowl. Prominent members of the clay, glass, metal and wood artisan communities have been asked to create significant bowls specifically for this event. These creations have traditionally been part of a static display in one location and then are auctioned at a Gala evening of beautiful donated food, drink and song. In 2004, we will be displaying the pieces at select retailers such as Holt Renfrew and in public spaces to increase visibility for the artists, the event and the sponsors. A silent auction features many items, including bowls designed and executed by local celebrities such as Arthur Erickson, Bill Richardson, the fabulous Tracy Bell and our wonderful founder Easter Armas-Mikulik.
As many as 80% of deaths from AIDS are immediately precipitated by malnutrition rather than by the disease itself. Project Empty Bowl has raised $50,000 for A Loving Spoonful, a registered charity that delivers free, nutritious meals to men, women and children fighting HIV/AIDS who have multiple barriers to accessing proper nutrition. Next year, we hope to raise $50,000 to provide nutritional services to our clients.
Dining Out For Life
My main job in Project Empty Bowl is to co-ordinate the window displays, which will feature some of the bowls being auctioned at Heritage Hall on March 31. The three retail locations are Holt Renfrew, Granville Optical, and Virgin Megastore. Much of the co-ordination has been on the phone, contacting people, explaining what needs to be done, getting things, etc., but yesterday I actually put up a display in the first window, at Granville Optical. I shouldn't say I put up the display, since really it was Oz who created the display and I just followed his orders. I got in touch with Oz through Alexandra, who is co-chairing the project along with Kenn. I was trying to get some materials together for the displays, and Alexandra said when it comes to windows, Oz was the man to call. So, call him I did, and arranged to meet him on Saturday morning.
Saturday, 9ish, much too early for my liking...
Oz
windowdressing
Granville Optical
As you can see, one of the main challenges to dressing this window is the security bars. Lloyd, the owner (manager?) told us that last summer some thieves had actually broken the glass, reached through the bars, and with a coathanger or something nabbed all the sunglasses from the display cases. So, even though there's a motion sensor alarm, this all happens too quickly to be able to intervene. These thieves must work pretty fast, since there's a community police station right on Granville Street, around the corner. We were a little disappointed that we couldn't put the displays closer to the glass, but to compensate, we taped the poster information on the glass so people could at least read it, even if the bowls were a bit far away. We fiddled around a bit with the track lighting, too, for better illumination. While I was standing in the window, I noticed more people looking in, so I know the display is a lot more eye-grabbing than before. Actually, I don't know how the display could be any less eye-grabbing than before, because it was basically just two lacklustre stands with some glasses on it. Nothing else. Oz put in purple mini-lights in the shape of two eyes, so that should help attract attention at night. He added a third eye in the background, in white lights.
Holt Renfrew display
Holt Renfrew platform
I checked out the Virgin Megastore window the previous week, which was an interesting view of the pedestrians along the corner of Robson and Burrard Streets. William took me through the doors into the space between the walls and the glass, and I was very much distracted by the people walking past. It's not every day you stand inside a glass enclosure that you walk by often and peer out at the window shoppers instead of being the one looking in. It's an interesting perspective. On a side note, you wanna know how they fasten those giant posters on those Virgin Megastore walls? Velcro.
