More than 2,100 clay bowls populated just about every available flat surface Sunday at the Southwest School of Art & Craft, for sale to
hundreds of charity-minded patrons who swarmed and swooned over them most of the afternoon. But at an event where uniqueness is the rule, 10 clay works of art stood out at this year’s 9th annual “Empty Bowls” fundraiser for the homeless. These were among the unfinished pieces left behind by the popular fundraiser’s founder, Kevin Finegan. Her plans to attend were cut short by a tragic hit-and-run accident January 29 as she was out for one of her morning exercise strolls. The 10 pieces were arranged on their own table, prominently displayed, for auction next to a photo of Finegan. An autobiographical one-page description of her life and philosophy of art drew an unlikely link between suburban convention and artistic inspiration. “I think she would have thought this was a lot of fuss,” said friend and pottery classmate Carol Dotin. “But she would have appreciated how much she meant to all of her friends.” A number of the pieces were generating some healthy auction action midway through the event, especially the “Seafoam teapot” and a “Medium blow with plumb swirls.” For nine years, the San Antonio Potters Guild’s main service project, “Empty Bowls” has been a work from the heart. Potters carefully craft bowls that are filled with soup and sold each year as a fundraiser. The proceeds, $15 a bowl and in excess of $200 for some of the silent auction items, have always gone to San Antonio Metropolitan Ministries. The local agency provides aid to San Antonio’s homeless.
This year, the event was expected to raise about $25,000, said Navarra R. Williams, president and CEO of SAMMinistries. More than 300 people were lined up before the doors of the Southwest School of Art & Craft even opened to the public. Lines were even longer for purchasers to collect their portion of locally produced specialty soups and chunks of bread symbolizing a homeless person’s daily fare.