Empty Bowls event helps the homeless, feeds patrons, thanks to PLU art students

People don’t usually line up to buy art, but at the annual Empty Bowls event at Pacific Lutheran University, student artists are planning to make extra this year to deal with the rush. The event, to be held Wednesday on campus, sells student-made ceramic bowls filled with campus-made soup, and all proceeds go to support Pierce County homeless.

“The proceeds go to those who have less than we do,” said Steve Sobeck, a visiting ceramics professor at the university. “In years past, we’ve had lines of people waiting to get these bowls.”

The 10th annual Empty Bowls will run from 4-6 p.m. Nov. 18 outside Old Main Market in the Anderson University Center on campus. Each $10 ticket buys one bowl full of soup. This year, students are making 200 bowls, 50 more than last year.

“It’s about the connection of the artist to user,” ceramics student Sarah Henderson said. “I am connected to whoever uses my bowl and vice versa. I’m thinking about the relationship throughout the whole creative process. To have someone pick one of my bowls out of the group. That’s the best feeling.”

For more information, call the School of Arts and Communication at 253-535-7150 or go to plu.edu.

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 6:40 AM with the headline "Empty Bowls event helps the homeless, feeds patrons, thanks to PLU art students."