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NAHS organized the annual Pottery Throw Down for the Larimer County Empty Bowls Project on Tuesday, November 10 from 5-8:30 pm. The empty bowls project is a major Food Bank fundraiser held this year on February 4, 2016. At the event, guests buy a handmade soup bowl made by students in Poudre School District and with the price of a single bowl the Food Bank can provide families in need with $250 worth of food. Guests can then enjoy a variety of soups provided by local restaurants while helping raise awareness of the difficulties families have with putting food on the table each day.

In preparation for the event, NAHS members formed a main committee in charge of everything, and delegated different jobs to different students. They spread the word about the event, set up all of the tables and supplies for participants to use, wedged clay, and set up food. Students in NAHS also stayed to make bowls, and they helped with clean up afterwards.

Anyone making a bowl at the throw down had two different options: they could either mold the clay with their hands or use the spinning wheel, and they could glaze the bowls after they cooked in the kiln. At the drape and press station, students could press molds with different patterns into a rolled out wedge of clay or make their own design with a toothpick. They would then drape the clay over an already made bowl to get the shape.

Kira Robinson, a sophomore, attended the event despite never taking a pottery class at Fossil before. Robinson says, “I thought it was nice to experiment with new ways of working with clay.” She went with two of her friends, and had fun learning about how to spin a bowl of the pottery wheel. Many other participants were in the same boat as Robinson, but friends, NAHS members, and students currently in a pottery class eagerly showed others the messy but fun process of spinning clay.

In the pictures above, Ms. Kunz, a teacher who is part of the Option 3 Program is creating a drape-impressed mold bold. She first pressed a tree mold into her rolled-out wedge of clay to give it texture and then used a tree-shaped cookie cutter to cut out pieces of clay and mold them onto a bowl. Her final product, she said, “Is going to be an awesome big soup bowl.”

Ella Fogarty, a junior, says the entire event had “a good atmosphere.” It was very fun for her, even though she was “was less experienced with spinning,” and her first attempt at spinning a bowl did not turn out well. Her friend, Mia Miller, spun the bowl with her because neither of them has taken a pottery class, and the bowl broke before they could finish. Their next tries were more successful, though not perfect, especially with help from more experienced spinners. Fogarty thought, “It was nice that everyone helped less experienced people.”

Meghan Hickey spent most of her time glazing bowls, as she claims, “It’s the only thing I can actually do.” Even for students like Hickey who do not think they are the best at most forms of art, the art teachers encourage everyone and anyone to try their hand at making a bowl. Perfection was not the theme of the night and the overall atmosphere made everyone happy to be there.

NAHS reached their goal of 200 bowls by the end of the night and even surpassed it by about 50. Students were excited to help with such a good cause.