SOLON — Artists often tend to immerse themselves in projects by themselves, for themselves.
“I thought it was important in addition to them having their own projects, that they would have something they can work collaboratively on together and have a final product that’s not for them but is for others, a truly selfless act of creation,” said Joshua Koza, art teacher at Solon High School and faculty advisor to the Art Club. His quest for collaboration and an art project for the greater good led to the club participating in Empty Bowls, an international grassroots movement by artists raising money for food-related charities and programs addressing hunger in their communities.
Locally the CommUnity Crisis Services Food Bank (in Iowa City) and the Solon Community Food Pantry continue to see an increase in requests for assistance.
“They say most families are just one medical emergency away from being food insecure, so I think needing the services of a food bank or a food pantry is a lot more common than people understand,” said Koza. “I think those services are used by a lot more people, not consistently, but in emergency situations and that’s a really important service provided to the community.”
In an effort to help the pantries, the Art Club has hosted an Empty Bowls Luncheon since 2010 (except for the COVID years of 2020 and 2021) serving a simple meal of soup and bread with the proceeds going to the pantries.
Integral to the event is the creation of handmade ceramic bowls, which the guests are able to take home. “It’s usually a year-long process,” Koza explained. “It may look like four small tables of bowls but putting together 300 glazed bowls – creating them, drying them, firing them, glazing them, and then firing them again, it’s a lengthy process. These kids have been in the studio since August working on this.” This year between 285 and 300 bowls were made with at least 200 being spun on the wheel by Ben Kunkel.
In 2022 the event shifted from the club making soups to inviting local restaurants to participate. This year Frida Kahlo Mexican Restaurant (Chicken Soup with Veggies), Big Grove Brewery (Corn Chowder), Buff’s GAMEDAY (Chili Concoction), The Bluebird Café (Tomato Basil Soup), Stella, Iowa City (Sausage & Kale Soup), The Thai Space (Chicken Curry with Mixed Vegetables) donated along with Kevin Zimmerman (Kevin Zimmerman’s Kitchen) and his legendary Creamy Bacon Soup. Bread for the meal was provided by Bread Garden, Iowa City.
The annual Empty Bowls Luncheon, hosted by Solon High School’s Art Club Saturday morning, provided an opportunity for fellowship while enjoying a bowl of soup and benefiting the Solon Area Community Pantry and CommUnity Crisis Services Food Bank.