Protected from the hot day, several tables were set up under the shade of the Train Depot’s pavilion in Historic Downtown Plant City. This is where tons of tiny hands kneaded away at globs of clay.
For once, the kids were allowed to get messy.
The group was part of a network of Plant City home-schoolers invited by Silvia Dodson to help make bowls for the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser, which benefits the United Food Bank.
Dodson leads the initiative, which involves students from Plant City schools. It’s the first year home-schoolers have been invited to make bowls.
In past years, artists David Dye and Shawna Everidge have visited schools, vacation Bible schools and the YMCA to teach students how to make their own bowls.
On Nov. 9, the bowls will become the featured piece of a hearty lunch. The community is invited to buy a lunch ticket for a meal and a chance to choose one of hundreds of bowls created by students. The bowl is supposed to serve as a reminder of the bowls that go unfilled around the country.
According to the recent statistics from Feeding America, 50.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households in 2011; 33.5 million adults and 16.7 million children.
The proceeds from Empty Bowls will go to the United Food Bank of Plant City. The food bank serves about 50 clients daily — triple last year’s totals over the same time period.
“It’s really neat that we’re actually helping people in our town and we’re involved,” Eliza Poe said as she shapes her clay into a heart shape.
“It’s hard, but it makes it all worth it in the end,” her friend Madison Sapp added.
Sapp’s brother isn’t without comment, either.
“It’s slimy,” Liam Sapp said, excitedly playing with the gooey clump of clay.
Liam ran over to a bucket, dunking his hands in the cloudy water. He returned to the table to keep molding away at his creation.
Dodson watched as smiles spread across the students’ faces. Even she had remnants of the clay sticking to her slender fingers.
Dodson comes from a family of artists. Her mother, Jossie Azorin, has been painting for more than 65 years. Azorin’s colorful flowers have found themselves on many bowls used in the celebrity auction for Empty Bowls.
Many of the ceramics for sale also have been created by Tony Arozin, Dodson’s brother.
“The project allows us to promote the arts in the schools,” Dodson said. “We go a step further by offering a volunteer pottery artist who teaches the art in the schools that do not offer art in their curriculum but want to participate in the Empty Bowls project.”
Schools that do not offer art in their curriculum, such as Robinson and Springhead elementaries, Willis Peters Exception Center and Simmons Career Center, will be receiving a visit from Dye this semester. He already has taught children how to make bowls at Hope Lutheran Church’s Vacation Bible School and summer camp at the YMCA. Dye also visits Walden Lake, Wilson and Bryan elementaries.
“Even if for one day or a couple of days, we can bring art into the schools with a positive message, it is a beginning in making sure we give more children an opportunity to know and appreciate art and be creative,” Dodson said.
Dye lugged his potter’s wheel to the Train Depot to perform demonstrations. His wide-brimmed straw hat kept the sun off his face as he spun and shaped the clay into masterpieces. Students gathered around him, waiting for their chance at the wheel.
He made it seem effortless.
“It’s really hard to make clay pots,” Madison said. “It’s very hard to shape and mold it into what you want, but it’s fun.”
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
BY THE NUMBERS
$6,000: The amount of money raised by Empty Bowls last year.
21: The number of schools that participated.
900: The approximate number of bowls made by school children.
3: The number of years Empty Bowls has taken place in Plant City.