The Los Banos Arts Center will be a beehive of activity the first week of December, hosting the Los Banos Rotary’s Empty Bowls meal on Dec. 5 and then, two days later, the Maker’s Market.
Both events are two of the most popular activities at the Arts Center. It will require a great deal of work to transform the facility from the sparse trappings of Empty Bowls to the merry decorations of the Maker’s Market.
Empty Bowls will be held on Thursday, Dec. 5, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. The tables are covered with old newspapers and a few greens, in keeping with the thought that many people in the Los Banos area do not have enough to eat. Tickets for Empty Bowls, at $20 each, can be purchased from any Rotarian or at the door.
The Marker’s Market will be held on Saturday, Dec. 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s a celebration of the holidays, and the Arts Center will be filled with colorful arts and crafts of many styles made by local residents.
Empty Bowls features hundreds of handmade bowls made primarily by high school and junior high students. The bowls are on display on stage, allowing people who buy a meal ticket to choose the bowl they like best. But when the event is over Thursday evening, all the remaining bowls have to be packed and taken to storage until next year.
Then on Friday the center will be active with artists and craftsmen setting up their booths and wares and musicians getting ready to perform on the following day.
All of this is made possible by the nonprofit Arts Council, dedicated to preserving the building that used the house St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and is now used throughout the year by the community, thanks to Arts Council members who keep the facility maintained.
“It’s a lot of work,” said Arts Council member Sandy Lemas, “but it’s worth it, seeing the community benefit from an historic Los Banos building.”