History | St. Kate's Empty Bowls Project

As an artist and educator, Monica Rudquist seeks to “create opportunities to look closely, reflect, and discover connections and new perspectives”, as written in her artist statement. Her porcelain pottery and installations encourage viewers to slow down, and ponder the ways things interact and relate to one another. Since the beginning of her time at St. Catherine University in 2008, Monica inspires students, colleagues and community members to do the same. Over the years she has aimed to connect the university's mission into her class curriculums as well as throughout the entire art department and school community. So when a group of St. Kate’s students mentioned they wanted to do some good for the community ten years ago, Professor Monica Rudquist knew just the project to incorporate into her teaching, the National Empty Bowls Project. 

Around the same time, Monica was working out a way for students to continue working with clay after completing a semester of ceramics. Since all majors at St. Kate’s require students to take one fine art class, it is often that that one class is the only time students are involved in the art department. Monica deemed it important to create a way for passionate students to stay involved in art. So, as Monica worked with students like Kaitlyn Smith, Courtney White, Megan Coyer, and others to start the St Kate's  Empty Bowls Project, they also  worked to  reestablish Clay Club ( which has been dormant for many years) To this day, the members of the clay club continue to help with the St Kate's Empty Bowls project. It is a great way for clay-loving students to connect the process of artmaking to social justice. 

Around the globe, the National Empty Bowls Project has been incorporated in schools and communities to raise funds for charities focused on food insecurity through the making and selling of ceramic bowls. Professor Rudquist along with St. Kate’s Clay Club created the first Empty Bowls Project here at St Kate's in 2010. The members of  Clay Club voted to direct the donations of the St. Kate’s fundraiser to Open Arms of Minnesota, a local organization that delivers specialized meals to families with a sick loved one. Because of the relationship created between the team at Open Arms, Monica and Clay Club, Open Arms has remained the recipient.

Beginning that very first year Monica and  Clay Club hosted monthly making events where community members were invited to come to the ceramics studio, to create bowls. These events encourage students to interact, chat about food insecurity, and work together towards social justice through the power of clay, all while having fun. Then, a few weeks later, the groups came back to glaze their bowls before they are fired for the final time. Unique to the St. Kate’s Project, Monica and the Clay Club hosted monthly making and Glazing  events open to all local community members, students, faculty, and alumni. Everyone was welcome. About two years in, professors from all over the university reached out to Monica in hopes of incorporating a making event into their classes, as they are a great community building activity focused on social justice. The St Kate's Empty Bowls Project has grown substantially, and now there are many more organized making events throughout each year, including different classes, school clubs, and faculty groups. However, hosting a few events that are open to the public each year is a crucial aspect of what makes the project here so special, fitting Monica’s goal of bringing the community together through the power of art. 

Twice each year, the St. Kate’s Empty Bowls fundraiser invites everyone and anyone to come,  select a bowl and share a simple meal of soup. In exchange for a donation participants keep their bowl as a reminder of the event and those I need. This year, 2022, in celebration of 10+ years the fundraiser is an ice-cream social instead of a soup social. These fundraising events really create a full circle interaction surrounding food insecurity and the importance of community. 

The St Kate's Empty Bowls Project has deepened the interaction between many communities. It has allowed students to see how art can be used as a tool; a tool that can be used to connect, inspire, and to help community members in need. To define who Monica Rudquist is as an educator can be shown through her work in the Empty Bowls Project. Her time and energy in creating and maintaining the project is far beyond her job requirement. As a future art educator myself, Monica has demonstrated just how powerful one teacher’s influence can have on not just students, but an entire community. 

The history of The National Empty Bowls project is an essential part to try and end food insecurities around the world. There is a rich history of the St. Kate’s Empty Bowls project that has been going on for eleven years now. The National Empty Bowls Project has been going on for many years, originating in 1990. It started when a Michigan art teacher was in search of a way to help one of his students find a way to raise funds to support a food drive. They started with a class project, which involved making ceramic bowls to fundraise money to end hunger that many people face around the world. Since then, millions of dollars have been raised by the National Empty Bowls Project to combat hunger. I decided to focus my research on the St. Kate’s Empty Bowls Project where I interviewed Courtney White who was one of the first St. Kate’s student leaders involved in the St. Kate’s Empty Bowls Project.

The St. Kate’s Empty Bowls project has been around since 2010. This was when Courtney and many of the first Clay Club students decided that they wanted to help the National Empty Bowls Project continue their mission. Courtney decided to join Clay Club because she loved ceramics and because Monica approached her about the idea. Clay Club was designed around the empty bowls project. They were the group to plan the event, make bowls, lead community making events, and host the events. In 2010, Clay Club hosted making and glazing events throughout the year for the community. Students, faculty, staff, administration, alumnae, family, and friends were all welcome to come to the making and glazing events. There was no previous experience that was needed, and they were encouraged to attend multiple workshops to glaze, make bowls. They were also encouraged to bring their friends to have an enjoyable time. During the events, they were reminded that the goal of the project was to raise funds for Open Arms of Minnesota. Open Arms of Minnesota is a non-profit organization that cooks and delivers free, nutritious meals to people living with life-threatening and chronic illnesses as well as their caregivers and dependents in the Twin Cities. Open Arms of Minnesota is a huge part of The St. Kate’s Empty Bowls Project, but so is Courtney White who started the project many years ago. 

I interviewed Courtney and asked her many questions and it was very rewarding to hear her responses. One of the questions that I asked Courtney was, “What stands out to you about the St. Kate’s Empty Bowls Project?” She replied with, “The thing that stands out to me the most is how long the project has been going on. It’s amazing to see that this project is still going on eleven years later. I remember when the project first started, and we hosted it in the ballroom and had bowls lined up in the middle for people to look at and buy. Then, we had a soup social after that included soup and bread. Another thing that stands out to me is how people were and still are willing to try new things. It was amazing to see people from the community come out and try making a bowl for the first time in their life.” I reflected on her answer after she told me what stands out to her the most. I thought of how much the project has changed and how similar it still is. Although we still allow community members to come in and make bowls who may not have any experience, we don’t host it in the ballroom anymore. It’s amazing to see the progression of the event that is now in the art building where it feels like we’re in more of an at home space for the project. 

Another question I asked Courtney was, “Why do you think the project still exists after eleven years?” Courtney replied with, “Monica is the driving force. If it weren’t for her, then this project wouldn’t exist. She gave me the opportunity to get into ceramics and I fell in love with her ceramics class, which allowed me to start the St. Kate’s Empty Bowls Project. The project is a great way to raise money for those who are food insecure, which is another big reason why the project still exists today. We can give back to the community in a way that they gave back to us.” This makes me very happy to be working with this project because it allows me to give back to the community just as Courtney did when she first started this project. Overall, Courtney learned many things about leadership during her time of working on the St. Kate’s Empty Bowls Project. She learned that leadership involves a lot of decision making and helping others, which is exactly what she did. Courtney was involved in planning the events and being there to help others learn ceramics and bowl making. During her involvement with this project, Courtney explained how it has affected her life after St. Kate’s. She said that it has helped her stay in touch with many of her alumni friends over the years. Courtney also said that she always enjoys hearing from Monica and St. Kate’s students and alumni.

The St. Kate’s Empty Bowls Project has been around for many years now and it’s amazing to see how much the project has changed and evolved. The history of the project is so important because it allows us to see how much work, dedication, and love has been put into this project throughout the last eleven years. As a student who is working with the project, I want to give back to the community just like Courtney and her fellow classmates did when she first started the project.

The National Empty Bowls Project started as a national program in 1990 at a Michigan high school. An art teacher, John Hartom wanted students at Lahser High School to participate in a local food drive, where students would craft ceramic bowls, invite the faculty to a soup lunch, and request donations to raise funds to support a food drive. The project was to make ceramic bowls for a fundraising meal where guests were served a simple meal of soup and bread, and were invited to keep their bowls as a reminder of hunger in the world. For more information about the project, you can visit: www.emptybowls.net.

The National Empty Bowls Project is recognized worldwide for the contributions to local food related charities within various communities. Student’s at Saint Catherine University also began taking interest in the National Empty Bowls Project, beginning and creating the St. Kate’s Empty Bowls Project in 2011.

The St. Kate’s Empty Bowls Project started with the St. Kate’s Clay Club where they began searching for resources and creating a plan to make the project happen within Saint Catherine University. One of the St. Kate’s Clay Club members, Kaitlin Smith who is now an alumni, shares her journey and story of starting the legwork for St. Kate’s Empty Bowls Project that started in 2010. Kaitlin was one of the members who helped create and introduced the project within the St. Kate’s community. 

Kaitlin started by taking a handbuilding clay class, as it was a requirement for her art section of her BA. Although she was not into art in really any capacity, she still signed up for the class to fulfill the requirement. Once the class was finished, Monica reached out to her and asked if she would come and work for Monica as a studio assistant. A group of students who had previously taken a clay class desired to still be involved with clay beyond their semester commitment but there was no way to do more without taking another class. That is why the Clay Club was formed. It was a way for students who had taken a class prior could still work with clay. However, the club wanted to exist for more than just their own personal enjoyment, they wanted to make an impact locally that went beyond St. Kate’s. Kaitlin and the Clay Club members took initiative in talking to student leadership at St. Kate’s to have their club approved and receive funding in order to advertise events, assist the community with bowl making events, and hosting their very first soup fundraiser. 

There were many hardships when it came to starting Clay Club, as it was the biggest first step. Clay, glazes, and kiln usage are expensive and they had to be able to show the leadership body that by financially supporting them they would be doing something impactful. There were many meetings and papers needed to fight for the door to be opened. Monica explains that “Kaitlin and the Clay Club members worked on the proposal letter for almost a month due to the application not being understood, in ways that it didn’t meet funding requirements. Kaitlin and the Clay Club members tried to explain how this project is a social justice issue rather than just making and selling bowls. So when they revised their application, explaining that making bowls are being offered to those with no experience and the bowls are to be held as a donation, where the donation will go towards a food organization, the senate approved their application and saw their funding needs.”. There were also interpersonal hardships, the team was attempting to do something that had not been done at St. Kate’s prior on top of their own educational classes and outside work.

As one of the starting few who did all the legwork, not only did Kaitlin and Clay Club reach out to the St. Kate’s faculty, they also desired to involve the local community. Kaitlin and the Clay Club members' passion really inspired Monica to help them strive. Monica states that “Kaitlin and the Clay Club members' passion to really want to create this project for the community, really showed me how much potential St. Kate’s students have to strive for something big and impactful. Their passions really influenced others, showing the potential that this project can bloom and be successful.”. Having school groups come in, students bringing their family and friends, it was about more than just the club in many ways. Workshops were open to all students, faculty, staff, administration, alumni, family, and friends. No previous experience was needed and people were encouraged to attend multiple workshops to glaze, make more bowls, and bring more friends. Classes or groups were able to schedule private workshops. The community making bowls help raise funds for Open Arms of Minnesota.

As the St. Kate’s Empty Bowls started, Kaitlin and Clay Club made a list of who they first wanted to donate the money to, and they decided to support Open Arms. The original plan was to change who they donated to each year, and support many different organizations. However, after working with Open Arms for the first year, they fell in love with the people and their mission. Open Arms of Minnesota is a non-profit organization that cooks and delivers free nutritious meals to people living with life-threatening and chronic illness as well as their caregivers and dependents in the Twin Cities. Such that people who are sick should not be without food. Many illnesses require special diets and Open Arms pays close attention to the individual nutritional needs of each recipient while preparing meals. For more information about Open Arms, you can visit: www.openarmsmn.org.

The history of this project is important in ways that it informs people all around the world about how food insecurities are impacting those who lack proper nutrition and food. Also how the experiences that come with the project allows people to feel and see what it's like to not have a proper meal. Kaitlin was deeply involved in 2010-2012 in every aspect of this project. Once she graduated, she attended a few soup socials over the years. Something that Kaitlin mentioned was how “Clay Club started as a way to allow students to engage in art and the project gave them something to do with their art. It allowed art majors the chance to perfect their bowl making abilities while it gave non-art students a chance to do something that matters. The St. Kate’s community as a whole has the drive for projects like this. The project has evolved since its beginning but I am not surprised that it is still around. When I think about this, it always brings a smile to my face. I remember the people who started this project alongside me and the times that we had together. The impact that we had with Open Arms and to know that my involvement has had a ripple effect to so many others.”, thanks to Kaitlin and the Clay Club for making this project happen within St. Kate’s.