It’s 7p.m. in the Fine Arts Building. Associate Professor Isabel Chicquor and a class of students are busily creating works of art that are not just for aesthetic purposes. The entire third floor is filled with the sound of the mellow jazz CD Chicquor is playing to inspire artistry the homeless of Durham County will appreciate.

Twenty-eight students from different ceramics classes are creating clay bowls to be donated in a silent auction held in St. Philip’s church on Apr. 27.

The community project is aptly titled “Empty Bowls”. All proceeds from the bowls will be used to feed the hungry and homeless of Durham. Additional money will come in from a fee-per-plate dinner that will be open to the public.

For many students, this marks the first time that their craftsmanship and quality of work will be evaluated and purchased, hopefully at high prices. 

Students are taking the project very seriously, but the process of creating beautiful bowls was very difficult.

“I’ve got four now, but my bowls kept collapsing,” said Clayton. “I’ve struggled to make very nice bowls that will be good enough to sell,”

The project has pulled students from all different majors to sculpt their unique works of art. 

Two styles used in sculpting bowls are the “throw” style and the “handbuilt” style. The throw style requires a spinning wheel, hands and a sponge. Handbuilt ceramics are made of coils that wrap around and then are smoothed out with a silver steel rib. Each bowl can then be glazed in different colors then dried in an electric kiln or a gas kiln at 2,336 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Students will also receive community service hours. Shentelle Powell, a psychology major, said that she wasn’t aware of community service credit. 

“Its not what I can get out of it, the art department. It’s doing a deed for humanity.”

Chicquor, an associate professor of art, has been instructing in the department for 25 years. She holds a master of fine arts degree in photography and a primary M.F.A. in ceramics from S.U.N.Y. College of ceramics at Alfred University. She has a history of combining students’ “book smarts” with their “street smarts.”

"Sometimes being on a campus makes students isolated from their surroundings,” said Chicquor. “Students that work together share the effort and become a community within themselves.”

When Chicquor saw the flyer of an empty bowl – symbolizing hunger in the Triangle area – she jumped at the chance to be part of what she believed to be a good cause.

“The department doesn’t receive anything, but to help the community in such a way makes it worthwhile,” said Chicquor.

However, the department did receive two hundred pounds of clay from the Campbell Ceramic Supply in Mabane, N.C. to assist in production.