The University of Evansville’s Clay Club will present its annual Chili Bowl Sale on Thursday, October 25 from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. The event will be outside Hughes Hall, near the East Terrace Lawn across from Ridgway University Center. The rain location is Eykamp Hall, Room 253, and the Class of 1959 Gallery and Lounge in Ridgway University Center.

Chartwells, the food service provider at UE, is co-sponsoring the event and providing chili made by chef Don Brown under the direction of Chris Clay.

For $10, customers can buy a one-of-a-kind ceramic bowl and fill it with chili. Paper containers will be available for those who prefer not to put chili in their newly purchased bowls. Larger bowls from $15-$50 will also be for sale. Some more artistic larger bowls will be sold at a silent auction as well, ranging in price from $60-$100.

The bowls are being made by members of the Clay Club and other UE students, faculty members, staff, alumni, and members of the community.

Half of the proceeds will be donated to the Potter’s Wheel, Inner City Mission. The Clay Club officers chose this organization for their work with educating and feeding the less fortunate in the Evansville Community. The rest of the proceeds will be used by the Clay Club to attend conferences, visit museums and galleries, and host visiting artists.

Todd A. Matteson, Clay Club advisor and UE associate professor of art, noted that “a lot of hard work and long hours go into making the bowls. They are all hand crafted on the potter’s wheel from a ball of clay. The artist has to center, form, alter, trim, dry, and then fire them, not once, but twice. The entire process is lengthy, but the outcome is a tremendous success. Most of the bowls have been glazed different from one another, but some of the bowls are glazed similarly, so patrons can have matching sets. Each bowl has its own uniqueness.”  

The Lacks family will at UE on Monday, October 29 for a presentation and Q&A session in connection with The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the bestseller about their matriarch, Henrietta Lacks. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor, black, tobacco farmer who had cells taken from her in 1951 without her knowledge. The cells became the first immortal human cells grown in the laboratory. Dubbed HeLa, they became one of the most important tools in modern medicine.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please see the attached news release.