Saint Ursula Academy Art students and the Art and Community Service Learning departments hosted the annual Empty Bowls event on the SUA campus on Sunday, March 3. Empty Bowls provides awareness about homelessness and hunger in our community through an event that starts with the creation and sale of ceramic bowls.
Ceramics/Pottery students create beautiful bowls while learning about hunger and food security in our area. They plan an event and invite family, friends, and classmates to donate and purchase the bowls they made. Guests make a monetary donation in exchange for a simple meal of soup and bread. For their donation, they could also choose a fired bowl to take home. The keepsake bowl is designed to remain empty in solidarity with those who live with hunger every day. The girls also created vibrant, multicolored placemats to be used at the event, with information about the causes of food insecurity and how the students worked to help the community.
The theme, as shown in the designs of the bowls, was Mandala, meant to encourage mindfulness and unity.
The proceeds this year go to support Heartfelt Tidbits, a local agency that provides support to refugees and recent immigrants living in Southwestern Ohio by facilitating integration and self-sufficiency through our innovative education, cultural, and employment-enhancing programming. They have partnered with Franciscan Ministries to create a community garden that is helping families grow fresh healthy food and build community.
Guests from Heartfelt Tidbits and Franciscan Ministries spoke to the students and guests at the event about the impact of supporting these efforts.
Students spoke about the process of learning to create pottery while learning about the food insecurity in our region. One student, during her reflection on the process, said she was asked by Art Teacher Mr. Kurt Nicaise at the beginning of the term, “What do we make?” She said she can honestly answer, after the term, with “We make a difference!”
This is the 13th year Saint Ursula has hosted its Empty Bowls event.