Thank you, Shelby County, for
making 2012 Memphis Empty Bowls Project Event a great success!
Over 300 individual potters, artists, and students created bowls and artwork for the event on November 11, 2012 which sold out days before the event. 14 restaurants donated soup and bread, and 12 sponsors supported the project. The event, held at Church Health Center Wellness, included live music from Abbye West Pates and Yancy and Yancy, as well as a pottery demonstration by Melissa Bridgman, a photography exhibit from Focus for the Good, and a children's coloring station. Attendees browsed the art sale and silent auction in addition to selecting a bowl to take home from over 300 on display from our donor artisans. More than 70 volunteers rounded out the effort to make the evening one that no one in attendance will soon forget!
The Memphis Empty Bowls Project has raised over $22,000 in its first year!,
the idea:
The concept is simple: Potters, artisans, educators and others around the Memphis area work with the community to create handcrafted bowls to donate to the project. Later, in exchange for a minimum $20 donation, guests are invited to a delicious dinner and are invited to take home one of the beautiful, handcrafted bowls as a reminder of the empty bowls in the Memphis area, as well as the inspiring work being done in our community to fight hunger.
Empty Bowls is an international effort to raise funds for charities that support the hungry and homeless. It began in 1990 when Michigan high school students and their teacher wanted to find a way to raise funds to support a food drive, and the concept has spread quickly. (For more information about the effort visit www.emptybowls.net.) There are Empty Bowls events staged by ceramic and other artists all over Tennessee, the United States and beyond.
