‘Empty Bowls’ fundraiser to be online again this year

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Hopefully next year, soup will be back. For now, the “Empty Bowls” will remain empty — but they will still be a part of a good cause.

The annual Empty Bowls fundraiser at the Charles City Arts Center will be online again this year, and the sale will go live at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 26.

“We usually have had a soup dinner, and everyone comes to buy their bowl and eat soup and hang out together,” said Emily Kiewel, Arts Center director. “Unfortunately, with COVID-19 still going on, we can’t do that again this year.”

The annual event — which has gone on for nearly 15 years — will feature well over 100 bowls, mugs and other receptacles, all made by local and regional potters, all donated. They can be purchased for $15 per bowl, which Kiewel called “a really good deal.” Proceeds will be split between the CCAC and Messiah’s Food Pantry in Charles City.

The fundraiser went online last year, and Kiewel called it an “amazing success.” She said most of the bowls sold out in the first three hours of the sale, and continued to sell for the next several days. More than $1,600 was raised, split evenly between the food pantry and the Arts Center.

Kiewel has been putting in a lot of work, taking pictures of the merchandise and uploading them to the CCAC website. The bowls can be viewed and purchased online at www.charlescityarts.org.

Customers can choose the bowl or bowls they want, purchase them with a credit or debit card, then come by the Arts Center and pick them up whenever they want. Kiewel said anyone having difficulties navigating the site can call her at the CCAC at (641) 228-6284 for help.

Local artists John Schneckloth, Pamela Coffee, Ruden Ruiz, Elissa Ellis, Art Strong and Kiewel herself are among the 14 artists who contributed to the fundraiser.