Tomé Art Gallery Soup R Bowl Fundraiser Feb. 8 at UNM-Valencia

Tomé Art Gallery announced its annual Soup R Bowl fundraiser is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 8, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UNM‑Valencia Student Community Center. Bowls will cost $20 and include soup, bread and dessert, with presale locations listed as Tomé Art Gallery at 2930 N.M. 47 and the UNM‑Valencia Bookstore.

The event moves to the UNM‑Valencia Student Community Center, a venue the gallery has used in past years to accommodate larger crowds. The fundraiser follows the Empty Bowls-style model common in community arts fundraising, pairing handmade ceramics and homemade soup to raise money for local causes. The gallery’s archived 2015 blog described the Soup R Bowl as the 6th Annual event and said proceeds that year supported the Virginia Cassados Clark endowed scholarship for qualified art students at the campus; current announcements do not specify the 2026 beneficiary and that detail remains to be confirmed with organizers.

Social media posts from the gallery corroborate the $20 price and the listed presale locations, and an Instagram excerpt suggests bowls may also be available for purchase at the event itself; organizers have not publicly confirmed whether door sales will be offered or whether bowls in 2026 are handmade and intended to be taken home. Those are important logistical points for residents planning to attend, since past iterations described a take-home bowl plus access to multiple homemade soups.

The Soup R Bowl has both cultural and civic significance for Valencia County. The event creates a visible funding mechanism for arts programs, draws buyers to Tomé and to UNM‑Valencia facilities, and keeps dollars circulating among local artists, volunteers and campus initiatives. For UNM‑Valencia students and faculty, an event on campus can increase visibility for campus arts programs and create opportunities to connect scholarship funding with community support if the scholarship link remains current. For local potters and food volunteers, the fundraiser offers sales and outreach that strengthen the county’s arts infrastructure.

The community calendar accompanying the gallery notice lists other nearby events: free computer assistance at Belen Public Library, the N.M. Special Orchestra meeting monthly at the Belen library, a drug disposal pouch demonstration at Bosque Farms Community Center, a Veterans Health Administration outreach event in Bosque Farms on Feb. 4, an Open Mic Night Feb. 6 at the Belen library, and regular “Read to the dogs” sessions at the Bosque Farms Public Library. Those listings reflect an active civic schedule in the same span as the Soup R Bowl.

Residents planning to attend should note the confirmed facts: the fundraiser runs Feb. 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UNM‑Valencia Student Community Center, bowls are priced at $20, and presales are available at Tomé Art Gallery, 2930 N.M. 47, and at the UNM‑Valencia Bookstore. Verify with Tomé Art Gallery whether bowls will be sold at the door, whether bowls are handmade and taken home, and which cause will receive 2026 proceeds; those details will determine how the event translates into support for local students, artists and campus programs.