On view at Newtown Municipal Center through late September, the traveling exhibition “In The Bag: the art & politics of the reusable bag movement” will have its formal opening reception this weekend.

The public is invited to attend the opening celebratory event on Saturday, September 8, from 6 to 8 pm.

A cooperative effort between Newtown Environmental Action Team (NEAT) and Newtown Cultural Arts Commission, the exhibition is on view weekdays through September 28 at Newtown Municipal Center. The opening reception will be within the exhibition, which is set up in the grand corridor of the town building at 3 Primrose Street.

Westport residents Liz Milwe and Peter Wormser created the exhibition ten years ago. The couple created the educational artistic display to bring awareness to the harm created to the planet through the use — and general discardment — of single-use plastic bags. “In The Bag” traces the history of the reusable bag movement and the growing concern around the world to find creative uses for plastic.

The exhibition also celebrates the creation of new reusable items from single-use bags and works by contemporary artists using the found objects.

There are three thematic areas of “In The Bag,” according to Ms Milwe, who visited Newtown recently to help install the current presentation. The first section of the exhibit shows different styles of reusable bags and the people who are using them, including those who have been leaders of banning plastic bags in their communities; the second section is a collection of photos and educational panels showing sea life and how it is interacting with single-use plastic bags, and the third section presents work by contemporary artists who use single-use plastic bags and other found materials for their creations.

Large panels that are hung on the walls also explain the history of single-use plastic bags, which really only began growing in popularity during the 1970s, according to one panel.

“Now they are used — and discarded — in stunning numbers,” Ms Milwe said August 27. Reading from one of the panels, she pointed out that 1.2 trillion single-use bags are used around the world annually. That breaks down, she said, to 1 million bags per minute, at an average of 300 per adult each year around the world.

“We use each plastic bag for an average of 12 minutes,” she said. “Then it’s thrown out, but it never fully breaks down. It lasts in the environment for decades.”

NEAT Co-Founder Vanessa Villamil met Ms Milwe earlier this year, when the latter was offering a forum on plastic bags at Fairfield Library. After the two women connected, an invitation was extended to Ms Milwe and her husband to present “In The Bag” in Newtown.

Eight cooperatives from around the world are represented in the traveling exhibition, which debuted in 2010 in New York City and has traveled as far as a UN conference in Switzerland since its introduction. Visitors can read panels hanging on the walls that explain where each co-op is based, who is represented by each co-op, and descriptions of the bags displayed that represent the work of each co-op. Members of those groups use everything from plastic bags, empty cement power bags, and recycled phone books to rice and feed bags, billboards, and juice boxes to create new reusable items.

Artists with work included in the exhibition are Miggs Burroughs, Virginia Fitzgerald, Virginia Fleck, Julian Gilbert, Daniel Lanzilotta, Sarah Hollis Perry, Dan Price, and Dan Steinhilber.

Saturday Highlights

On Saturday evening, First Selectman Daniel Rosenthal will be announcing the winner of a reusable bag design contest recently presented by NEAT. The works of the ten finalists from that contest are also part of the Newtown presentation of “In The Bag.”

Designs by Nicole Rinei Hawke, Samantha Hoffert, Allison Holden, Penelope Jackson, Kathryn Lynders, Adriana Russo, Steven Vournazos, Jacob Wallenta, Caleigh Ward, and Eren Weiss are all on view at the municipal center.

Once the winner is announced, the public will be able to obtain reusable bags featuring that design. A $5 donation is being requested per bag.

Following the September 8 reception, the bags will be available during the 2018 Newtown Arts Festival, September 14-15 at Fairfield Hills, according to NEAT Co-Founder Vanessa Villamil. If any remain after that weekend, a few stores in town have shown interest in making them available to the public, she said.

Live music will also be performed during the September 8 reception, and Newtown Poet Laurate Lisa Schwartz will read a poem she is crafting for the event.