Upper Valley Empty Bowls returns to fight hunger through art

LEAVENWORTH – For nearly three decades, the Upper Valley Empty Bowls Festival has blended art, community, and compassion to help fight food insecurity in the valley.

This year’s event continues the tradition with an artist reception and an online auction. 

The festival brings talented artists, local restaurants and the community together to share a simple meal of donated soup and bread. Proceeds from ticket sales and the online Artist Bowl Auction are a substantial source of funding for the Community Cupboard Food Bank, a program of Upper Valley MEND (Meeting Each Need with Dignity).

A key part of the Upper Valley Empty Bowls Festival is the Online Artist Bowl Auction, which opens at 8 a.m. on Sunday, March 16 and runs until 10 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26.

Twenty-one bowls and platters designed and created by local artists and potters will be available for bidding online at the Upper Valley Empty Bowls website uvemptybowls.org. 

Each bowl is a work of art, from its creation at the hands of skillful potters, to the hours of time it takes to painstakingly hand paint the designs, and then the final careful firing of the masterpieces.  

Each bowl is also available for immediate purchase with a “buy it now “price. 

Most of the bowls are ceramic serving bowls or platters thrown by local potters, but there is also a wood turned bowl by Scot Brower, an etched glass bowl by Teri Zimmerman, four handmade mugs by Momi Palmieri and many other colorful works of art featuring birds, plants and local landscapes.  

While the contributions of the artists’ time and talent are sizable, so too is the financial impact of the auction of their bowls. The money raised by the artist bowl auction is a significant portion of the total UV Empty Bowls profit, each year raising more than $7,000 for the Community Cupboard. The funds also support a small art grant of $1,000 that benefits local youth.

The community can view the bowls in person at the Upper Valley Empty Bowls Artist Reception. on Sunday, March 9 from 5-7 p.m. at the Icicle Ridge Winery in Peshastin.  

“Join your fellow community members for an evening of art, wine, appetizers and music, as well as an opportunity to meet the bowl artists and potters,” the event page states. 

Admission is a suggested $40.00 donation at the door. Event attendees will have an exclusive chance to view the artists’ bowls, bid on a live auction bowl, and enter raffles for other bowls. 

The auction bowls will also be on display at the beginning of March in these Leavenworth businesses: Kris Kringl, Der Sportsmann, Ganz Klasse! Posy Handpicked Goods, The Plant Ally, A Book for All Seasons, Inside & Out. 

They will also be featured at the March 27 Soup Supper at the Leavenworth Festhalle, so that the community may view the finished bowls as everyone gathers to celebrate and eat together. 

For more information, visit uvemptybowls.org.