Kelly Connole, Professor of Art
Since 2004, the Empty Bowls Project has been hosted on Carleton’s campus, and has become a staple event over the past fifteen years. Two years ago, Professor Kelly Connole completely revamped her ceramic course offerings to create an ACE course, Studio Art 230: “Ceramics: Throwing,” where students learn clay throwing techniques and produce scores of hand-crafted bowls for the event. In recent years, Empty Bowls has been in close collaboration with Carleton’s Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE), and the two partnered up for the 2019 edition of this event, which took place Friday, May 17, 2019, on the Bald Spot.
The Empty Bowls Project has become a strong model for Academic Civic Engagement at Carleton. Over many years, the project has grown and informed course offerings and collaborations with a number of groups on campus and in the community. With close ties to the Northfield Community Action Center and Food Shelf, the potters of the Cannon Clay Cooperative, and CCCE, ceramics students have several opportunities to work closely with community members throughout the project. Professor Connole intends to connect Empty Bowls to the Socially Engaged Crafts Collective and seek publishing opportunities related to ACE and the Arts.
Empty Bowls 2019
Students serve soup into bowls