Wichita State students, staff and community members threw clay bowls in Henrion Hall Friday.

Rather, they made them using pottery wheels — otherwise known as ‘throwing.’ Hand-building techniques were taught during Build-a-Bowl, an event put on by the School of Art, Design and Creative Industries at WSU.

Members of the WSU Ceramics Guild demonstrated the techniques and had even first-time learners throwing bowls in no time.

Brenda Lichman, ceramics lecturer and creator of the event, said she was thrilled with the turnout.

“Today has been amazing,” Lichman said. “Before it started, we had people coming and making bowls. Today we made over 50 bowls within the first half-hour. So people are excited. It’s been fabulous.”

Build-a-Bowl is made of two parts, Lichman said. People came Friday to make bowls, and can come again this Friday to make more. The bowls will be fired in a kiln later, and on Oct. 18, will be sold at the Empty Bowls Chili Cook-off, a fundraiser.

“You can come, purchase a bowl for $20, and you get to pick from over 500 handmade, one-of-a-kind bowls,” Lichman said of the cook-off.

Lichman said alumni, as well as nationally known ceramicists, have been invited to send bowls. She said 100 percent of the proceeds from the cook-off will be donated to the Kansas Food Bank.

“Our goal is to make $10,000 in this first event,” Lichman said. “And hopefully, if we keep this up, in five years, I’d love to make $100,000 for the Kansas Food Bank.”

More than 70 people attended Friday’s Build-a-Bowl event.

Students Emily Brown and Kayla Deines said they enjoyed their time spent learning about pottery.

“We started over at the wheel, throwing,” Deines said. “That was really fun, because we’ve never done that before.”

Brown said it was exciting knowing the proceeds from their bowls were going to the Kansas Food Bank.

“We’re making something for a good cause,” she said.

October is Hunger Awareness Month, so the Build-a-Bowl and Empty Bowls Chili Cook-off were scheduled to coincide with that, Lichman said.

The events are sponsored by the School of Art, Design and Creative Industries and the WSU Hunger Awareness Initiative, a campus group dedicated to researching hunger.

In addition, Lichman said it all collaborates with “Conscious Clay,” an exhibit at the Ulrich Museum of Art.

“It’s all about clay, community and conversation, and I feel like it’s happening, and I’m really excited about that,” Lichman said.

The next Build-a-Bowl event will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, in 110 Henrion Hall. It is free and open to the public.

The Empty Bowls Chili Cook-off will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 18 in Henrion Hall. Lichman said University president John Bardo and Tanya Tandoc, owner of Tanya’s Soup Kitchen in downtown Wichita, will be on hand to judge chili entries.