Skyline College administrators, classified professionals, and faculty got creative with clay at our Oct. 9 hands-on Empty Bowls Flex Day Workshop! Empty Bowls is a grassroots project started in the 1990s by two Michigan teachers to raise money and awareness of hunger and food insecurity in communities, and it has inspired fundraising events like ours internationally.
The Social Science and Creative Arts Division presents this event as a fundraising initiative designed to offer our students a meaningful service-learning experience. Through artistic engagement, participants will cultivate a sense of community service, foster awareness, and empower one another to drive positive change. Participants in this Flex workshop contributed by decorating bowls with carving, modeling, and painting techniques, adding patterns and imagery. The work they did helps us meet our goal of making over 300 bowls for the next Skyline College Empty Bowls event, which will be held on Monday, March 24, 2025, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Fireside Dining Room.
At our Empty Bowls fundraising event, attendees can select from a collection of colorful and unique ceramic bowls handcrafted and decorated by our ceramics students and our Flex Day participants. They can enjoy a warm bowl of soup served by student volunteers while experiencing an evening filled performances from our music and dance students. Artwork will also be on display from our photography students. The event raises money for Skyline College SparkPoint Center Food Pantry, helping to serve those in need.
The SparkPoint Center and Psychology Program also partner with the creative arts groups to make this event successful: the SparkPoint team shares information about their work and resources available to our students and community, and Psychology faculty and students will table at the event and share information with attendees about how food affects our brains. They will give out brain-healthy recipes that use ingredients commonly distributed at Skyline College’s Food Pantry.
Article and Photos by Tiffany Schmierer, Art Faculty and Ash Asaro, Studio Art Laboratory Coordinator
