In the early 2000s, Country Day had just completed construction on the Hance Fine Arts Center. When Kay Ethridge, a potter and a Country Day parent who was involved with the capital campaign, first saw the new Ceramics Studio, she knew it needed to be shared with the greater community.
Kay was also an active volunteer at Urban Ministry Center (now Roof Above), where she helped neighbors craft soup bowls for the Soup on Sunday fundraiser benefiting the local hospice organization. Her inspired idea to connect these efforts sparked Country Day’s 20-year tradition of making clay creations in support of others.
On September 24, 2025, our community gathered once again to create art, share time together, and give back through the Create to Donate Pottery Workshop. While the event has evolved over the years, what Kay knew back in 2005 still rings true today: “There’s something magical about transforming clay into a vessel,” she says. “Clay has unlimited potential, and everybody who touches it expresses themselves differently.”
Retired Upper School arts teacher Meredith Green remembers that when Kay approached her with the idea for a pottery-making workshop, her first reaction was “Wow, this is awesome.” But close on that was “who's going to put this together?” Meredith’s initial anxiety about organizing such a big project in a new space quickly gave way to excitement. “I had a lot of help from a lot of other people,” she says, “particularly Kandise Hayes, our Lower School art teacher. She helped me tailor the workshop for little kids a little bit better. We set it up so that everyone could feel successful.”
Meredith Green and Kay Ethridge
Kay also solicited the help of her friend and fellow potter Jinny Hargrave of Carolina Clay Connection. Jinny has donated the clay for 20 years. In the early years, neighbors from Urban Ministry Center came to Country Day to work alongside Country Day families to make soup bowls. Meredith and Kay remember that the students were often drawn to what the neighbors were creating, and it gave them an opportunity to work alongside and converse with someone they might not otherwise interact with. “There was music and laughter and a lot of fun. It was a big party,” says Meredith.
For many years, the event involved upwards of 100 students and their families molding and decorating simple soup bowls that were later fired and sold at Soup on Sunday, the annual fundraiser of VIA Health Partners (then called Hospice and Palliative Care Charlotte Region). On average, Country Day has donated between 50–100 bowls each year—totaling more than 1,000 handmade pieces given over the past two decades!
2017 pottery event
However, Kay remembers, some families also wanted to make a bowl to keep. And Karrie Matias, who joined Country Day as an Upper School art teacher in 2021, experienced the event with fresh eyes, noticing that our students’ handmade bowls didn’t sell as well as the professionally made bowls. “I can’t thank Kay and Meredith enough for their wisdom and guidance,” she says. “They took me under their wings and helped me understand the impact this outreach has on our community.”
Karrie also worked with Friends of the Arts (FOTA), a parent support group that did not exist in the early days of the pottery workshop. “Since our goal is to raise funds for hospice while also creating meaningful community experiences, I knew we needed to adjust while continuing to reinforce the values of empathy, service, and connection.”
Highlights from this year's Create to Donate Pottery Workshop
Now participants glaze pre-made ceramic dishes and create hand-built ornaments, with all proceeds supporting VIA Health Partners. Last year alone, Create to Donate raised more than $1,500 to support VIA’s important work.
To mark the 20th anniversary of this partnership, the National Art Honor Society threw pottery on the wheels and shaped bowls into hearts. These unique “heart bowls” will be donated to VIA and auctioned off at the Soup on Sunday event. We were also honored to have Tom Atwood, VP of Philanthropy at VIA as our guest speaker at the event.
And Karrie continues to honor Kay’s original inspiration to connect Country Day with the neighbors at Roof Above. For the past two years, the National Art Honor Society has taken a field trip once each semester to create ceramics with Roof Above’s neighbors for Hospice. The neighbors are grateful to donate one of their bowls while keeping another for themselves, which allows them to take pride in their contribution to a meaningful cause. At the same time, our students gain compassion for those who are less fortunate.
“These positive interactions are truly priceless and help foster socially responsible, service-oriented citizens,” says Karrie.