NMU community members have the opportunity to connect with ceramics students and experience their studio for the Empty Bowls Throw-A-Thon, where everyone gets the opportunity to make a handmade bowl for a good cause.

The Throw-A-Thon begins at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 6 at the ceramics studio in the Art & Design building (room L02).

The event is a precursor to the international “Empty Bowls” event, which is put on to raise awareness on hunger issues. Locally, Marquette Alternative High School hosts a luncheon where community members pay to enter and are able to pick out a handmade bowl to eat with. Afterward, they are able to keep the dish as a reminder that food issues still exist.

Senior ceramics major Niikah Hatfield said the Throw-A-Thon is open to all skill levels, and the event is a chance for the community to get their hands dirty and utilize the tools that NMU’s ceramics program has to offer.

“They might not turn out perfect, but they all go to a great cause, and there’s something to be learned about the process along the way,” Hatfield said.

She added that this type of volunteering is a way to gain experience outside of one’s comfort zone, and to realize there is so much more going on than what’s in everyone’s individual lives. Once people put their own lives aside and come together is when things begin to change, she said.

“We’re the next generation, and the world is only going to be as good as we make it,” Hatfield said.

They try to make about 500 bowls per year, and opening that process to the community lets them get involved with the process behind the scenes, and also with the ceramics program at NMU, Hatfield said.

“I’m really proud of all the people that come together to make Empty Bowls happen, and particularly that includes all the work that leads up to it,” Hatfield said. “All the ceramics majors contribute to making it happen, and I think it’s really cool that as art students in the ceramic medium, we get to use our skills for the greater good.”