By Taylor Aufiero

On the first day of the Art Centro subsidized pottery classes for Poughkeepsie Farm Project’s Soup-A-Bowl fundraiser, I walked in incredibly optimistic and excited to throw! As I met our wonderful instructor, Dan Pressler, he immediately asked “Have you thrown before?” In my head I thought, “Yeah sure I’ve thrown bowls before--against the wall maybe.” But I replied in a sing-song voice, “No but I am SO excited to do it!” Well, Dan looked at me with a smile, amused by my naivety, and he laughed; that’s when I learned that throwing pots is NOT easy.

After my first visit to Poughkeepsie Farm Project in May of 2016, I fell absolutely in love. That very day I signed up to take part in the pottery class at Art Centro- an opportunity to make bowls that other people will pay money for AND the money goes to a great cause-- how could I resist! Never the artistic type, I was encouraged when I convinced my mom, PFP native Tina Vaitkus, to sign up with me. The classes were subsidised by Art Centro through their admirable and continued commitment to PFP and its mission to cultivate a just and sustainable food system in the Mid-Hudson Valley.

I am proud to say that after just six weeks-- despite claims that only after I’d thrown my first thousand would I get the hang of it--I was able to create several marvelous bowls! It was, of course, a major group effort and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to spend six Thursday evenings with my fellow PFP members. I have tremendous gratitude and appreciation for the volunteers and staff at Art Centro who made this class possible and put up with my semi-laborious learning process.

Soup-A-Bowl will take place on October 16th, 2016. For more information on Soup-A-Bowl check out our event page. I hope to see you there, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get one of my bowls.