AMERICUS — Each November the Americus-Sumter County Arts Council (ASCAC) holds the Empty Bowls event to promote the arts, feed purchasers wonderful soup, and provide for those less fortunate in the community; 2017 was no different. The ASCAC donated $1,000 to the Harvest of Hope Food Pantry located at 606 McGarrah St. in Americus.
AmericusArts, aka The Arts Center, located at 326 W. Forsyth St., is where the event took place. There were large tables covered with hundreds of bowls for patrons to mull through until they discovered the perfect one to take home. Along with the purchase of a ceramic bowl, the purchaser had the choice of either loaded potato soup or kale vegetable soup. Steve Miller and his staff of Little Brother’s Bistro provided the soups, which of course, were not served in the ceramic bowls. The freshly made soups were hot and delicious!
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) Associate Professor Keaton Wynn started Empty Bowls when he was president of the ASCAC. This year the ceramics department at Georgia Southwestern produced over 200 bowls. Emeritus Professor Ralph Harvey joined in this year making the lion’s share of the bowls along with Wynn. GSW ceramics majors Mindy Peterson, Levie Rainey, and Erin Murray also produced bowls for this year’s event. Other GSW ceramics students making bowls included, Alyssa Jones, Emily Burke, Hannah Hendricks, Adrianne Brown, Elizabeth Smith, Anna Nguyen and Caryn Childers.
Scholars from Furlow Charter School in Americus, assisted by Cate Bailey, who is also the ASCACsSecretary, glazed and donated an additional 48 bowls.
ASCAC board members Lewis Porter, Yasmin Hasnain, Phyllis Smith, Brita Hobbs, Anne Thomas, Jean Daniel, and Rob and Cate Bailey, and others all helped to make the event a success. Dozens of bowls were sold this year and some still remain for sale at AmericusArts. The ASCAC board President Rob Bailey met with Miller of Little Brother’s Bistro and Levie Rainey, a junior year GSW art major, recently to present Sonny and Ginger Pinckard of the Harvest of Hope Food Pantry the funds raised.
Harvest of Hope Food Pantry, gearing up for the holidays, donated to over 800 families last year. There are high hopes for greater contributions this year and the hard-working couple was very grateful for the donation from the Americus-Sumter County Arts Council. The ASCAC looks forward to continuing this tradition for many years to come with cooperation from GSW and Little Brother’s Bistro.