VCHS ART DEPARTMENT CELEBRATES Soup Bowl

VCHS Art Club Celebrates Soup Bowl

Written By: Keely Diebold ‘16

It’s been 15 years since the community was first introduced to the VCHS art program’s annual Soup Bowl benefit, and today, even in the midst of a global pandemic, the longstanding, fan-favorite fundraiser shows no signs of slowing down.

“I’m proud of my students for continuing the enthusiasm over it because if they weren’t interested, we couldn’t keep the momentum going every year,” art teacher and art club advisor Laurie Robichaux ‘84 says.

The Soup Bowl is a student-produced fundraising event led by both Art Club members and advanced art students at VCHS. The annual fundraiser is highlighted by a soup bowl auction, featuring pieces designed by students in the art department, as well as a wide variety of soups for attendees to try.

Each year, art students select a new cause to which they want Soup Bowl proceeds to go.

For Robichaux, the best part of the Soup Bowl is seeing art students use the talents they possess to give back to the community in a hands-on way.

“The pride in knowing that these students embrace and own those gifts that they have been given and realize that when you have a talent, the best part of it is sharing. The best experience of it is being able to share it with somebody else,” Robichaux says.

An initial founder of the event, Robichaux says the goal of the first Soup Bowl benefit 15 years ago was set at raising $500 for the Bunk House. In its nearly two-decade existence, though, the event has grown drastically, expanding from a dozen soups for attendees to try, to four dozen.

Robichaux says that another meaningful part of the fundraiser to her is watching her art students take charge of the event and accept all of the responsibilities that accompany it - from creating bowls, to photographing the auction items and creating the event’s catalog, to cleaning slow cookers, to overseeing the auction itself.

“My favorite part is that it is all student-run,” Robichaux says. “We have resisted any parent aid, although we have lots of wonderful, involved parents who support us in a lot of other ways.”

Though the Soup Bowl is a one-night event, its preparation is an all-year ordeal for the students behind the magic.

At the start of each school year, Soup Bowl organizers meet to set workshop dates for creating the bowls that will automatically become auction items in the benefit. After bowls are formed, fired, and painted, they are photographed and displayed in a catalog for potential buyers to see. Students then send out letters requesting donations of soups and door prizes from the community. Additionally, performing arts groups, such as the VCHS choir, are invited to provide the Soup Bowl’s entertainment.

When it all comes together, Robichaux says the event is embraced and attended by VCHS students, art department alumni, and the local community year after year.

Along with the setup of the event comes the selection of a unique theme. Over the years, students have found ways to be exceptionally creative with their theme selections, with the most recent being SOUPernova.

“We had SOUPercalifragilistic. We had Mission Impossi-BOWL. We had one close to Halloween that was Spook Bowl, so everybody got to dress up, and that one I really remember because we used to do… commercials, and for Spook Bowl, we had this great kind of horror film trailer,” Robichaux laughs.

This school year, the Soup Bowl looked differently due to the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead of an in-person event, the art program hosted the fundraiser as an online auction, featuring Christmas ornaments as an added auction item. Students signed up for limited-capacity workshop sessions or picked up to-go kits of supplies to create the bowls for the event. After the event, winners were invited to pick up their items at the school in a safe, socially-distant manner.

Robichaux says the event proved to be a success despite setbacks.

“I was excited that we were able to do it. This was the first thing that students came into the year asking. ‘Are we going to have an art show? Are we going to have a Soup Bowl? How are we going to do it?’” Robichaux says.

However, the hopeful return of an in-person event in conjunction with the Soup Bowl’s 16th year of existence will be a reason to celebrate, Robichaux says.

“I think it will be almost a renewed experience, honestly, because I’ll have so many students who haven’t had the experience at that point in time. There will be at least two grade levels of students that haven’t done the full experience, ” Robichaux says. “It’ll be maybe a renewed energy because we’ll see each other’s faces again…Just to see smiles again, I can’t wait for that.”