Empty Bowls
During my Sophomore year, I participated in Empty Bowls where I spent the semester making ceramic bowls to help fight hunger. In this time I designed my bowl, made a positive using 3-D printing, made a plaster mold, and used slip casting to make over 15 bowls. After all my bowls were cast, I proceeded to clean them up, fire them, and glaze them.
Later they were sold at a charity dinner where people could pick out a bowl and enjoy some soup made by students in the class. All of the proceeds were then donated to Micah's Backpack, which provides direct food assistance for children from low-income families. While taking the class I also had the opportunity to volunteer at Micah's Backpack and Campus Kitchen to help pick up food from Dining Services, pack up food in thermal containers, and transport it to Christiansburg.