An international event combining artistic sensibility and charity hits Milwaukee on Saturday, Oct. 14, as the Empty Bowls project -- half art showcase, half social statement -- comes to the MATC Oak Creek Campus.

Local artists make their own ceramic bowls and put them on display for people to take home. Empty Bowls President and co-founder Amy Dodge expects there to be around 2,500 bowls to be on display at this year's event.

"We've taken the Milwaukee event to a whole new level," she says.

In addition to the large number of bowls on display, there will also be a demonstration on the art of crafting together, or "throwing," a bowl.

A mix of professional artists, teachers and art students will be supplying the bowls for this year's event.

The Empty Bowls project originated in 1990 at a high school art class in Michigan, when a teacher had his students come up with an artistic way to raise money for a food drive. It soon spread through the rest of the country and Empty Bowls events have happened as far away as Helsinki, Finland. A meal of soup and bread is served in the bowls, and guests keep them as a reminder of world hunger.

Dodge says that while the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into each bowl is important, the reminder that some bowls will always be empty is the key to Empty Bowls.

"The bowls are an integral part of a year-long message."

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