Record-Breaking Bowl Throwing for Fort Bend Empty Bowls


Lou Ann Newman, Vickie Coates, Pat Pratt and Albert Goldreich.

Lou Ann Newman, Vickie Coates, Pat Pratt and Albert Goldreich.

Local artist Albert Goldreich will attempt to break his own record for the longest a potter has thrown bowls on a wheel in The Book of Alternative Records. His current record is for 18 hours and three minutes. Goldreich will begin throwing bowls on his potter’s wheel beginning at 5 am on Saturday, October 15th at the art gallery at 104 Industrial Boulevard in Sugar Land. Representatives from Fort Bend Empty Bowls will be there from 10 am to 1 pm allowing guests to sign up to paint one of the record-breaking bowls.

The bowls Goldreich throws will be painted, fired and sold at Fort Bend Empty Bowls on April 28, 2017. The money raised will benefit East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry (EFBHNM), a food pantry, financial assistance program and resale shop that serves families in temporary financial crisis in East Fort Bend County.

“I don’t like to think of people going hungry,” Goldreich said in preparation for the event. According to Goldreich, things were a bit rough growing up, “but we never went without a meal.”

Goldreich broke his first record in 2009 to raise awareness for the Houston Empty Bowls. He was introduced to Fort Bend Empty Bowls when he met Lou Ann Newman, Bowls committee co-chair, while walking in their neighborhood. Goldreich immediately knew that he wanted to do something to help get the word out.

The event will give people an opportunity to gather and learn more about Fort Bend Empty Bowls, EFBHNM and the people the organization helps. “This is amazing for us, just to bring awareness,” said Vickie Coates, executive director at EFBHNM. “So many people don’t think there’s hunger in Fort Bend County.”

All of the clay is being donated by Pamela Owens at The Ceramic Store in the Houston Heights. There will be 17 judges comprised of Fort Bend community professionals.

For more information, visit www.humanneeds.org.