Project Was Bright Spot in COVID-Cancellation of WC's Earth Day/Ag Day
A Wilmington College project cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic is reaping positive results for youth in the community as officials presented a check for $850 to Wilmington City Schools for its Summer Lunch Program.
PICTURED: One of the 170 ceramic bowls glazed during a quartet of glaze parties that hopefully next year will be filled with pie and ice cream.
This winter, members of the campus community prepared for WC's annual Earth Day/Ag Day activities in April by tapping into the glaze craze that is sweeping the nation.
The project was designed to tie together a pair of seemingly disparate entities — art and agriculture — in what ultimately would be a philanthropic endeavor serving the community. A group of faculty, students and friends produced 170 ceramic bowls in WC's ceramics studio.
These were sold for $10 with those purchasing them having the opportunity to actually glaze their bowls in the studio — with an added benefit of receiving pie and ice cream in their bowls during Earth Day/Ag Day. Sadly, that annual spring event was canceled due to the closing of campus in mid-March in favor of distant learning for the duration of the semester.
Proceeds from the sales were earmarked for the ceramics studio and to assist Wilmington City Schools' Summer Lunch Program.
Diane Anderson, a longtime ceramicist and the wife of agriculture professor Monte Anderson, said she and Michele Carr, WC's adjunct instructor in ceramics, deemed the bowl project a success in spite of its COVID-19 ramifications. Some 140 persons glazed bowls during four popular glazing parties.
"The project was enjoyed by students and staff of the College, as well as persons from the greater Wilmington community," Anderson said. "The only drawback was that we were not allowed to meet on Earth Day to distribute the bowls and fill them with pie and ice cream, as was our original plan."
Anderson, who noted that most of the bowls have been reunited with their owners, hopes the project can continue in 2021, this time combining the pie and ice cream on Earth Day/Ag Day with the glaze parties and fundraiser.
