Houston Food Bank Fundraiser Empty Bowls Return

In the age of mass production, there’s always something special about bringing home something lovingly made by a local artist, even something as small as a bowl of cereal. It’s even better if this purchase puts money in the hands of people who solve real-world problems. Houstonians will have the opportunity to do just that at the 18th annual Empty Bowls Houston, a popular fundraiser for the Houston Food Bank taking place Saturday, May 11 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.

At the fundraiser – a collaboration between the food bank and local ceramicists, woodturners and glass artists – participants will have the opportunity to purchase a collection of more than 1,500 unique, handcrafted bowls, the no longer sold at $25 each. . All proceeds from this family-friendly event, which will also feature live music, food and art demonstrations, will help combat food insecurity in the region by funding the Houston Food Bank, which provides access to 120 million meals per year in all 18 counties. in southeast Texas it serves.

To date, Empty Bowls Houston has raised more than $1 million for the food bank, which equates to approximately 3.16 million meals.

“We have a pretty broad reach and a lot of people have needed our help over the last couple of years,” says Sean Crowl, manager of business and community relations at the Houston Food Bank. “I work on many events at the food bank, and this is one of my favorites. It’s indoors and outdoors, has great food, music and really cool artists. It’s a fun, family-friendly event.

Although Empty Bowls provides a valuable service to the community by raising funds to purchase meals for those experiencing food insecurity, it could not do so without the efforts of the hundreds of artists who donate their work each year .

Houston ceramicist Lotus Bermudez, who with her husband owns Third Coast Clay, an artist-run community clay studio in Houston, has been involved with Empty Bowls since the very beginning. Houston’s ceramic artist community is scattered, and Bermudez says that in addition to being a vital way to raise money for the Houston Food Bank, the event helps connect local artisans to each other.

“Not only am I an artist, but I am also a strong advocate for the ceramic arts in Houston. (Empty Bowls) is a way to celebrate the ceramic arts and engage other artisans in the city,” says Bermudez, noting that the event is one of the largest annual gatherings of ceramicists in Houston.

Like many regular participants, Bermudez likes to change the themes of his bowls each year. This year, they are all based on his childhood memories of Galveston, as well as his recent memories of bringing his children there as adults.

“(My pieces this year) look like sand, and they have little ceramic seashells on them that were molds taken when my kids were toddlers and collected seashells,” she says. “They also contain crushed and molten glass inside that mimics ocean water.”

A little more artistic than the bowls most Houstonians are accustomed to eating their cereal out of (at least those who weren’t raised by artists), we imagine they would make the perfect vessel for a bowl full of Marshmallow Mateys, our favorite nautical themed breakfast. cereal.

Another longtime participant in the fundraiser is ceramicist Michelle Heinesen, who has lived in Houston for 12 years. Like Bermudez, his pieces and style are also heavily influenced by his memories. Heinesen, who was raised in Singapore by a Faroese father and a Singaporean mother, says growing up as a biracial person in Singapore made her feel 100% out of place – almost like she was an alien , she says. .

“In my artistic practice, I try to find a place for myself and translate these ideas,” she says. “I am strongly influenced by my background. Both my parents are islanders, but they come from places where there is complete day and night.

In previous years that Heinesen has been involved with, she has spent a lot of time focusing on the surface texture of her bowls and has done a lot of very detailed craft work. She’s doing things a little differently this year and throwing all her bowls on the lathe, paying special attention to glazing and shape.

And she creates a lot of them. Heinesen is one of the fundraiser’s “100 Bowl Artists,” who is responsible for spending the year making 100 bowls for the event. This will be the sixth year that Heinesen has taken on this challenge. She says she is so committed to fundraising because she experienced the effects of food insecurity herself after her father died unexpectedly when she was a young child.

“With my mother being a single parent, food insecurity was a very real issue for me growing up, even though I lived in a place as economically prosperous as Singapore,” she says.

She participates in Empty Bowls because it’s a cathartic way to put her art to use.

“I like the idea of ​​being able to help the community feed itself with my skills,” she says. “I make the bowls and I can immediately help someone feed themselves. It’s quite gratifying for me.