Glorious, messy creationism
by Andrea Powell, HPCCR Electronic Communications Manager
Country Day School hosted a fun, pottery-filled afternoon for students, faculty, staff, and parents.
I know we’ve been talking an awful lot about food lately. And we’ve been kind of bossy: Eat here on this date. And eat there one that date. But you’ve been very good sports to let us dictate your fueling schedule and we thank you.
So this is a post about Soup on Sunday. But guess what? We’re not going to ask you to eat any soup! Yet. (That will happen in January, when Soup on Sunday takes place.) What we’re going to tell you about today is a really cool event that happened last week at Charlotte Country Day School (Go Bucs!).
Last Thursday, students, faculty, staff, and parents all showed up at the Hance Fine Arts Center to make bowls for Soup on Sunday. It didn’t matter whether you were the next Michelangelo or whether you were using clay for the first time. Everyone was welcomed and given a seat at the table. And the results were remarkable. I saw a bowl in the shape of a pig, one with leaves decorating it, and one that simply looked like it was made out of leaves. I saw deep bowls, shallow bowls, tall ones, short ones — bowls for just about every occasion.
The clay was generously donated by Jinny Hargrave who owns Carolina Clay Connection, a pottery center in Charlotte that serves the needs of potters, clay artists, school art programs, sculptors, and anyone who is interested in working in clay. Jinny, along with local potter Kay Ethridge and Country Day School art instructor Meredith Green, were there last week to provide help and advice to all of the volunteer potters who will be donating their masterpieces to Soup on Sunday.
(from left to right) Kay Ethridge, Meredith Green, and Jinny Hargrave
Once the bowls dry, they will be fired in the kiln at CCDS, glazed, and then fired again. Then the beautiful creations will be delivered to Soup on Sunday in all of their shiny perfection. It’s one of the most fun parts of S0up on Sunday – picking out your bowl from the hundreds on display. You will spend a long time looking for the pieces that “speak to you”.
You might be looking for a cereal bowl–the one that offers you the optimal milk-to-cereal ratio. Or it might be a bowl to sit on your kitchen table to hold change and keys. Whatever it is, you’ll find it. And there’s a good chance someone from Country Day School made it.
January 29 will be our 12th Soup on Sunday. And loyal supporters Jinny Hargrave and Kay Ethridge have been involved from the very first year. At the time, they had been offering pottery programs for the neighbors of the Urban Ministries. (The neighbors still, in fact, make bowls for the event!) Donating pottery for Soup on Sunday was just one more way to give back. Kay was the one who got Country Day School involved. As a parent who supported their arts program, she thought it would be a fun way to get the entire school community to do something together. Plus, they had a wonderful new fine arts building that would offer the perfect location for all the glorious, messy creation.
So now you know the back story. When you come to Soup on Sunday, you’ll be even more excited to peruse the pottery to look for that special bowl, the one that speaks to you. Just don’t be looking for the pig bowl, though. That one’s mine.
Tags: bowls, Carolina Clay Connection, Charlotte Country Day School, Hance Fine Arts Building, Jinny Hargrave, Kay Ethridge, Meredith Green, pottery, Soup on Sunday
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January 26, 2012 at 10:18 am
[...] Special ticket holders have to make up your mind which gorgeous bowl(s) to take home. All those pieces that were made at Charlotte Country Day School will be there, plus a ton more crafted by friends of HPCCR, Providence Day School students, and [...]