Potters welcome to make soup bowls for annual event

arts & entertainment

The Samaritan Center’s homeless family center helps people rebuild their lives.

Indian River Clay offers a helping hand by building soup bowls from small balls of clay.

Experienced potters throw bowls at Indian River Clay’s Community Open House in July 2025. The non-profit studio is opening its doors again this July and inviting experienced potters to help make 1,000 bowls.

For the seventh year, Indian River Clay is partnering with the Samaritan Center to create 1,000 bowls for its annual November fundraiser, the Samaritan Center Soup Bowl.

Every bowl tells a story, and the bowls you volunteer to make can help change lives right here in Indian River County.

Experienced wheel throwers and hand builders are invited to make the bowls. Registration is not required. Clay and glazes will be provided, but potters are asked to bring their own tools. Bowls will need to be at least five inches in diameter after being bisqued.

The community potter weekends for making bowls are:

FOR MAKING AND TRIMMING BOWLS:

Saturday, July 11: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday, July 12: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday, July 13: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday, July 18: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday, July 19: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday, July 20: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

FOR GLAZING BOWLS:

Saturday, Aug. 8: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 9: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 10: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

If you’re not a potter, but you would like to donate money to help cover the cost of materials and firings needed to produce bowls, please go to www.indianriverclay.org. Once there, choose “Make A Donation” on the homepage and don’t forget to add a note during payment to designate the donation is for the Soup Bowl project.

Indian River Clay is a non-profit ceramic arts studio in Vero Beach. In the past seven years, the studio’s members and friends from the community have made and donated 8,000 bowls to the Samaritan Center For Homeless Families.

2026 marks the 34^th year of the Samaritan Center Soup Bowl.

The Samaritan Center sells the bowls to raise money for its transitional housing facility in Indian River County. This program for homeless families equips them for independent living. During their stay, which averages six to nine months, families receive secure housing, case management, educational services, and access to community resources in a supportive environment. For more information, please contact the Samaritan Center at 772-770-3039.

For more information on Indian River Clay, call 772-202-8598, visit the website at www.indianriverclay.org, or email info@indianriverclay.org.