Haine teacher's video will be showcased
CRANBERRY TWP — A teacher at Haine Middle School, 1516 Haine School Road, who produced a two-minute video for the 25th anniversary of the Empty Bowls Project is one of only three people from the United States and 20 other countries to have their work showcased at an upcoming exhibit of the project.
The Empty Bowls Project, started in 1990, is an effort by those in the artistic community to create ceramic bowls to help feed hungry people. Anyone can pay a donation for a bowl and keep it. The money goes to food banks.
Haine students last year created nearly 800 bowls for the project. The bowls were then sold during a showing. The school ended up donating more than $3,000 to the Gleaners Food Bank from the project.
Raising that much money for the food bank is significant, but art teacher Noele Reynolds decided to take it a step further.
She recorded a time-lapse video showing the bowl sale and a line that was “out the door” as people swarmed to get one.
The teacher said that students sold more than 600 bowls in the first hour of the event.
“I thought it would be cool to videotape the whole process,” Reynolds said. “We had a hidden camera set up in the cafeteria, and all of a sudden, there was this crush of people.”
The teacher edited the video down to about two minutes and submitted it to the Empty Bowls Project, which was soliciting videos to showcase during its 25th anniversary special.
That exhibition will take place March 25-28 at the Johnson and Wales University and Culinary Arts Museum in Providence, R.I.
Reynolds said her video was just one of three selected from around the world. It will run on a continuous loop during the exhibit.
It took a while to make the bowls, Reynolds said. Two kilns in her classroom ran nonstop for seven weeks to create them.
After that, it took several months of communication with officials from Empty Bowls until Reynolds learned her video was selected.
“The organizer, who was away on a trip for a month, said he got a thousand e-mails while he was gone, but mine stuck out,” she recalled. “I was blown away, being that it was only one of three selected internationally.”
Tracy Vitale, Seneca Valley School District superintendent, said Reynolds’ passion for art has benefited many people, especially for those most in need.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to Ms. Reynolds for going above and beyond in the classroom and, more importantly, for sharing her passion for the arts with our young learners,” Vitale said.
To learn more about Empty Bowls, visit the website at www.emptybowls.net.
