Empty Bowls at Bradley Beach

Saturday May 2nd 2015, Bradley Beach Elementary staff and students held an Empty Bowls event at the Bradley Beach Food Pantry. The bowls were made by the students in grades 2nd through 8th. The Empty Bowls project was part of the A.I.E grant at Bradley Beach. There were well over 200 bowls on display. Most of them were sold! Thanks to the students and their art teacher Jennifer DiZefalo, for making this event a huge success. Many people in the community will benefit from both the AIE grant, the service project it funded, and the efforts of so many staff members and volunteers at the school.

Bradley Beach Elementary

Eighth grade students at Bradley Beach Elementary are continuing work on their Maya inspired pots.
They have learned how to handbuild using slabs to create a cylinder. The completed cylinders will have surface decorations that use either an incised, scraffito or a water etched technique.

Bradley Beach Elementary

Bradley Elementary School in Bradley Beach NJ is the location of my latest A.I.E. residency. It is a  beautiful little school located on the Jersey shore, just south of Asbury Park. This area was heavily damaged by hurricane Sandy, but seems to be in full rebound mode. I am working with art teacher Jennifer DiZefalo, and a core group of 8th grade students to create clay pots modeled after classic Pre Columbian/ Mayan pottery. As a young art student, I often visited the University Museum in Philadelphia. I loved spending the day studying the ancient pottery from Greece and Rome. In some ways, looking at the ancient artifacts in the museum, is what shaped my decision to become a ceramic artist. It is so exciting to be able to share my love of traditional handbuilding techniques with the students at Bradley Beach.

Along with the Mayan pottery, Bradley Beach is also working to host an Empty Bowl event. I have been working with other grades in the school to create handmade bowls that will be sold at the event which will be held in the spring. The students are very excited about this event, and are really enjoying the opportunity to work with clay, some for the first time.

Peace Garden

I had the wonderful opportunity of working with the Noyes Museum and several school and community groups around Atlantic City to create this beautiful stained glass mosaic.

The piece is titled "Peace Garden" and was initiated to create a work of art that brought together students from Texas Ave Elementary School, AC High School, The Covenent House for homeless youth, Absagami High, and Champions of Youth, a girls and boys club. Each group worked on a separate panel. Here it is, installed, at the Arts Garage in Atlantic City NJ

A Bowl Of My Own

It was a hard choice with so many beautiful bowls to choose from, but here is the bowl I chose for myself. I love how it has a small heart at the bottom.

Empty Bowl Event at Clearview High School

The big night has arrived and all the bowls are displayed for purchase. The students did a wonderful job. They have created so many beautiful hand made bowls.

Students at Clearview will hold several events throughout the rest of the school year. The goal is to sell them all and be able to give the Gloucester County Food Bank a sizeable check to purchase food for those who are in need.

Glazing

Students at Clearview High School, along with the help of their teacher Sandra Koberlein, work hard at glazing the beautiful handcrafted bowls for the Empty Bowl event, which will be held in May, at Clearview High School in Mullica Hilll NJ.