What do you do? That was the question that inspired a community wall installation in our Tall Gallery on FREE Day last month. In addition to the many fun activities that took place throughout the day, one of the most interesting was the resulting wall collage of brown paper bag cutouts inspired by Mary Lum’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, on view as part of our exhibit The Workers (below):

Lum spent several years collecting the names printed on the bottoms of paper bags, after initially being surprised to discover that each bag is stamped by an individual person. This easy-to-miss detail underscores the human element of mass-produced items that we don’t often think about or stop to consider. On FREE Day, we asked kids and adults alike to write down what they do on pieces of brown paper bags and stick them on the wall. What began as a simple question evolved into a creative and oftentimes Post Secret-esque endeavor. Check out what some of our visitors had to say about their work and their place in society.

We loved reading all of these at the end of the day. Thank you to everyone who participated!

By Cora Sugarman/Photos by A. Elizabeth Berg

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