Product Teaser & Art Exhibit Announcement: What's in a Bag?

Hickory Public Library is offering a behind-the-scenes look at an upcoming Potluck.art product. The exhibit, The Life of a Bag, will be on display until August 31, 2026, in The Learning Lab at Patrick Beaver Memorial Library in Hickory, North Carolina. See the library event details here.

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Artist Statement from Lauren Jordan

"Ita bags" are backpacks or purses covered in iconography and accessories, generally depicting a specific character or franchise. Originating in Japan, the name roughly translates to "pain bag" and is centered around the painful all-consuming love of the object or character on display. My greatest love and the thing I am the biggest fan of is our planet Earth and I use my business, Potluck.art, to honor it in a more circular production model. This bag allows me to champion the Earth through provocative messaging or heartwarming iconography using the ita bag's hallmark feature: the clear plastic window that showcases the pins and patches inside while keeping them protected from rain and thieves, and allowing for the display to be fully removed if the messaging is no longer safe or reasonable to display. Made in the USA from a paper-based leather alternative, 100% cotton straps, and strong carabiner-style clasps, the bag is also nearly fully recyclable when it reaches the end of its life.