Factoid:Those interested in finding out more about the national bowl project can visit www.EmptyBowls.org.

They’re artistic and sometimes humorous, but with at least three people playing a role in creating each one, they are all unique.

About 60 ceramic bowls with designs including everything from dozens of eyes to haikus written around the edge are on display in Art Alley on the second floor of the Student Center.

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Hundreds of local citizens, from 2-year-olds to professional artists, have put their hands into the more than 400 ceramic bowls that have been made as part of the Southern Illinois Empty Bowls Project.

JoAnna Johnson, chairwoman of the Empty Bowls Steering Committee, is responsible for helping organize the event, which Johnson says improves the community image while earning money for the Good Samaritan House.

“We had the opportunity to display the bowls and I think it’s a good idea to show what the community has accomplished,” she said.

Community members have been contacting those involved in the project and asking for the chance to make or paint bowls.

Johnson said she has received calls from local artists, church groups and even people just looking to have sort of a “Tupperware party, except with bowl painting.”

“It’s interesting to get all these different hands in,” Johnson said. “Somebody molded it, somebody painted it and somebody fired it.”

Children as young as 2 have had a chance to paint the bowls with a dozen different colors, while those as young as 10 have been able to “throw,” or sculpt, bowls. All the bowls are made and fired in the Craft Shop area in the basement of the Student Center.

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Johnson said each bowl is unique, but some people have used similar ideas when it comes to painting. Flowers, insects and animals are just a few of the popular choices.

“Even though hundreds of people are working on them, there are recurring themes, and I’m trying to group them into those categories,” Johnson said as she set up the bowls on Art Alley.

Steve Musselman, an assistant coordinator at the Craft Shop, made about 10 bowls. He majored in metals when he was a student at SIUC a few years ago, but he also enjoys being creative with material such as clay.

“I just really like ceramics,” he said. “It’s so therapeutic.”

Musselman said he was happy with the way the project was progressing and thinks it will be a big success, especially with the proceeds going to the Good Samaritan shelter.

“They help a lot of people in the community and don’t just focus on a specific group,” he said.

One of the younger artists creating bowls was Adam Floro Jr., 13, an 8th grader at Marion Junior High School. He has been volunteering in the Craft Shop this summer for about six hours each day while his parents work at the University. So far he has made four bowls.

“I like it because I got to get messy, but also because the cause is good,” Floro said.

The bowls were put on display Thursday and will remain for a few weeks before they are taken down and sold for $10 a piece at the University Mall. The sale will last for three days, starting Sept. 27.

Anyone who buys a bowl will be given a ticket for a free dinner at Carbondale Middle School on Oct. 16, and he or she is encouraged to bring and use the new bowls at the meal.

Johnson said she hopes another 200 bowls will be made before the sale, and all the proceeds made by selling the bowls will be donated to the Good Samaritan House. Money for the clay and supplies comes from cash donations, so Johnson said none of the earnings would be used to pay for material costs.

Anyone interested in helping may visit the Craft Shop area and sculpt bowls for the good cause.

“It seems intimidating, but it’s really easy to do,” Johnson said. “It’s amazing that from one object – a bowl – we can get so many ideas.”

Reporter Brian Peach can be reached at [email protected]