Empty Bowls Project adds silent auction to fundraising efforts

While Linda Bohnsack claims it was a hard task, the co-director of the Empty Bowls Project managed to choose 30 bowls from the hundreds that have been made to be included in a silent auction at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in October.

The bowls on display were made by area artists and laymen and chosen specially for the silent auction to raise additional funds for Empty Bowls.

"It was hard to choose the 30 absolute best," Bohnsack said.

But she did, and the bowls are on display at the arts council with bid sheets being filled slowly -- over the course of a month. The auction opened Oct. 2 during the First Friday reception and will close Oct. 31.

Bohnsack, who owns the Garden Gallery on Broadway where most of the bowls have been formed, fired or painted, introduced the auction idea to highlight the artists' abilities and raise additional money.

Beginning four years ago, the local chapter of this national organization has pulled together pottery, meals and community volunteers to provide funds and raise awareness of local hunger. Volunteers provide time and talent by shaping, painting and firing hundreds of pottery bowls for the project's annual soup banquet. Organizers set the goal of creating 700 bowls this year. Volunteers exceeded that, donating 840 bowls.

Banquet attendees will select one of these handcrafted bowls and be served a simple meal of soup. Attendees keep their bowl as a reminder of hunger in Southeast Missouri. All money raised is given to local hunger-fighting organizations.

Dr. Anne Marietta, a co-directer of Empty Bowls, is a registered dietitian and teaches Community Nutrition at Southeast Missouri State University. Marietta and 28 of her students have been working to prepare bowls, deliver meals and promote the events. They will also prepare soups like french onion, curried squash, taco and potato for the banquets.

"In this economy, people are more food insecure. They don't know where their next meal is coming from," said Marietta of the need to support area food banks.

The first banquet will be from noon to 3 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Salvation Army at 701 Good Hope St. A second banquet just for students and Southeast staff and faculty will be served from 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 11 at Dearmont Hall on the Southeast campus. All tickets are $12.

The dinners raise most of the money, but organizers hope the auction will bring a little extra.

"I think some of [the bowls] you would probably expect to pay over $100. They're nice," Marietta said.

Julie Bricknell, a potter with more than a decade of experience, has contributed in past years and said she enjoys the collaborative effort between potters and painters.

"No bowl is made and painted by a single person," Bricknell said. One potter may have a specific "idea that is good for making a bowl, and the next artist comes along with a different idea. Each bowl is a one-of-a-kind, unique piece."

Volunteers ages 10 to 90 came from groups such as the Girl Scouts, residents of the Chateau Girardeau and local churches among others. Those involved said they think raising hunger awareness through the arts and volunteerism has great benefit.

"The time is not important, rather the end result of the money to the food pantries. Sharing my love for pottery and teaching others, sharing the craft," are some of the added joys Bricknell said she has taken from the project. "We've found people we didn't know who had talent."

The local chapter of Empty Bowls Project may be reached at emptybowls@charter.net and <I>www.emptybowls.com provides national information.