I SCREAM bowl

Back in the spring of 2000, a friend and gallery owner sent Tom an application for a juried ice cream bowl exhibition in Vermont. The winners of the show were judged by Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's ice cream fame. The overall winner of the competition won a year's supply of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Tom applied to the show with this bowl, got in and won! The only downside being that "a year's supply of ice cream" turned out to be 52 pints. "My family burned through those coupons in about three months", says Tom. "Whenever I go to schools to talk to kids about a career in the arts, I tell them this story and point out that it's a good example of how artists are undervalued in our society. This prize turned out to be worth about $250. That's peanuts compared to most cash bonuses in just about any other line of work."