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Dearborn Art Students Make "Empty Bowls" for May 19 Fundraiser at Arab American National Museum
Do you know what it feels like to be hungry? Not hungry as in “when’s dinner?!” but truly hungry, with mouths to feed and no options?
For the last 21 years, art students in the Dearborn Public Schools (DPS) have taken the time to consider those less fortunate by taking part in Empty Bowls, a fundraising initiative founded by a DPS alumnus, John Hartom. (Read more about the initiative below.)
This year, DPS art students in various grade levels made 300 ceramic bowls, under the direction of instructors Wendy Sample and Dail Russell. The public is invited to the Arab American National Museum 4-6 p.m. Friday, May 18, when the students’ bowls will be filled with delicious soup donated by Habib’s Cuisine and Byblos Banquets in Dearborn, and served with bread from Bona-Venture bakery in Eastern Market, in exchange for a minimum $5 donation.
Proceeds benefit Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan as it feeds our neediest neighbors, while attendees get to keep and enjoy their one-of-a-kind bowls.
This event is presented in conjunction with the current AANM exhibition Patriots & Peacemakers: Arab Americans in Service to Our Country, which documents the contributions of Arab Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces, Peace Corps and diplomatic corps, and asks viewers to consider the role of public/community service in their own lives.
The exhibition was made possible in part by The Ford Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and Chevron.
Empty Bowls @ AANM
4-6 p.m. Friday, May 18, 2012
Community Courtyard
Arab American National Museum
13624 Michigan Ave., Dearborn 48126
$5 minimum donation (meal + keep the bowl)
Delicious soup from Habib’s Cuisine and Byblos Banquets, Dearborn
Hearty bread from Bona-Venture nonprofit bakery, Eastern Market, Detroit
Starbuck’s donating coffee; water also available
For further information on this event, contact Wisal Samaha at 313.624.0219 or wsamaha@accesscommunity.org.
Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort to fight hunger that began in southeast Michigan, in a Bloomfield Hills Lahser High School classroom led by art teacher John Hartom, a graduate of Edsel Ford High School in Dearborn.
In 1991, Hartom and his wife, Lisa Blackburn, also an art teacher, thought of an idea to use his students’ efforts in making ceramic bowls to raise money to feed the hungry. It was originally planned to be a one-time event; 21 years later, Empty Bowls is staging events around the world and has raised millions of dollars to combat hunger. Now retired, the couple lives in North Carolina and continues to support the Empty Bowls project.
Hartom initiated the project during in 1990-91, when he joined a drive to raise charitable funds in his community. Hartom’s idea was to organize a charitable event to give artists and art students a way to make a personal difference. Hartom’s students made ceramic bowls in their high school art classes. The finished products were then used as individual serving pieces for a fundraising meal of soup and bread. Contributing guests kept the empty bowl. During the next year, Hartom and other participants developed this concept into Empty Bowls. The Imagine Render Group, a 501(c)3 organization, was created to promote the project.
The basic premise is simple: Potters and other craftspeople, educators and others work with the community to create handcrafted bowls. Guests are invited to a simple meal of soup and bread. In exchange for a cash donation, guests are asked to keep a bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world. The money raised is donated to an organization working to end hunger and food insecurity.
Events have now taken place across the United States and in at least a dozen other countries. Many millions of dollars have been raised and donated to hunger-fighting organizations. The art department of the Dearborn Public Schools has presented Empty Bowls events since the inception of the program 21 years ago.