Soup’s on Friday, Dec. 4, when FGCU’s Bower School of Music and the Arts hosts the annual Pottery Sale and Empty Bowls Soup Lunch.
Art enthusiasts, holiday gift buyers and community members who support the fight against hunger will line up early in the Arts Complex courtyard to purchase locally made pottery and sip soup. Ceramics will be on sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and soup will be served from 11:30 a.m. until it runs out.
For 15 years, the FGCU Art Program has partnered with the United Arts Council of Collier County (UAC) to produce an annual pottery sale featuring artists from across Southwest Florida. The event provides visitors with an opportunity to purchase beautiful, functional, handmade pottery while also benefiting the UAC’s art education programs. A portion of the proceeds from every sale will go toward the purchase of art supplies and equipment and contribute to funding for teachers in after-school art.
This year’s sale will feature pottery by Annabelle Johnson, Rinny Ryan, Patricia Fay, Martha Grattan, David Hammel, Mary Etta Rokusek, Alex Chung, Angela Aradia, Barbara Darling, Diane Roberts and current and former FGCU Art Program students.
Empty Bowls is a national campaign that unites potters, students, restaurants and food banks to address the needs of the hungry in local communities. The formula for fundraising is simple and sincere – potters and students make bowls, area restaurants donate soup and bread, and hunger-assistance organizations provide education and outreach.
For a $15 donation, visitors to the ninth annual FGCU event will pick out an original pottery dish and choose one or more soups to fill it. Volunteers will clean the bowls when participants are done sipping.
All Empty Bowls proceeds go to Interfaith Charities of South Lee in Estero for its community food pantry.
Soups will be donated by Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, Ted’s Montana Grill, Olive Garden, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, Applebee’s, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Cheddar’s and Duffy’s Sports Grill. To complement the soups, rustic ciabatta bread will be donated by The Artisan Bread Company of Fort Myers.
The “Science of Cooking” class also will serve a vegan soup developed as a class project, and FGCU instructor and Certified Executive Chef James Fraser will prepare tom kha gai, a classic coconut curry soup from Thailand, served with or without chicken.
For more information, contact Tricia Fay at (239) 590-7229 or [email protected].