The "Empty Bowls" Project:
Your Bowl Counts
For the twelfth year, all K-12 students in Linn County have again been invited to create contributions for one of the MAF’s most beloved programs, the "Empty Bowls" project, presented by Veridian Credit Union.
In their art classes, students from 26 schools will create ceramic bowls then donated and sold at the Marion Arts Festival, raising funds to benefit local food banks. Area artists also contribute ceramic bowls, with wood bowls masterfully crafted by inmates of the Anamosa State Penitentiary also available.
2010 Empty Bowls Sale Breaks Record: $4,000 to Local Food Banks; $64,000 Donated
Since 1997
Most bowls will carry a $5 price tag – over the program's twelve-year history, nearly $64,000 has been donated by the festival to area hunger relief agencies, each year helping to serve over 8,000 persons needing assistance.
Approximately 500 area students will become involved by making bowls, volunteering on festival day, or both. This hands-on approach to community awareness and social change can have a lasting effect on those students who participate, with the project also helping to raise hunger awareness among festival attendees.
Students also know the satisfaction of producing artistic items that will be very much in demand! Hundreds of festival attendees line up early to avoid the heartache of coming away bowl-less, proving the "Empty Bowls" project as being one of our most popular offerings.
The "Empty Bowls" sale is planned and managed by a team of Marion High School art club students, with the assistance of teacher Barb Shultz. If you are an educator whose classroom would like to donate bowls, or a volunteer interested in helping on festival day, please contact Mrs. Shultz at bshultz@marion.k12.ia.us.
