About Us
Faith Baum is an architect in Lexington, Massachusetts. She is a middle-aged mother of three.
Lori Petchers is a documentary filmmaker from New York City. She is a middle-aged mother of two.
They both were young once….
About the Project
OLD BAGS PROJECT is a multi-disciplinary venture exploring the experience of the middle-aged American woman, through documentary, visual art and social media.
In 2011, OLD BAGS PROJECT began as a collaboration between two post-menopausal women who felt like they were being incorrectly defined by a youth fixated society at the exact time in their lives when they had achieved a true sense of who they were. Like many of their age, they were tired of their consumer culture that harped on the value of “looking younger than you are”.
The creators decided to present this idea through art and OLD BAGS PROJECT emerged. Poking fun at consumerism and mockingly neutralizing a stale insult, older women from many different backgrounds joined the project. They proudly stripped down to their underwear to pose in front of the camera with shopping bags over their heads. They enthusiastically offered their voices and thoughts. The results have been displayed over the past several years in multiple venues – as photography, video and audio installations, building projection, and now… a book!
OLD BAGS PROJECT IS NOT a soap commercial about how everyone is beautiful EVEN older women. It is a statement about refusing to allow our youth loving, commercialized, media ridden culture to have the last word about who we are and our place in American society.
Exhibitions
- Gallery 263, “On the Body” 263 Pearl Street, Cambridge, MA February 11- March 12, 2016
- Rabbithole, 33 Washington Street, Brooklyn, NY, February 11, 2016 SPECIAL ONE NIGHT ONLY
- A.I.R. Gallery “Generation X: Razzle Dazzle,” 155 Plymouth Street, Brooklyn, NY – Photography, January 7 – February 7, 2016
- Artspace ” DWELL,” New Haven, CT – Site specific multi-channel projection, photography, October 2015
- City Lights Gallery “Forever Young,” Bridgeport, CT – Photography, April 2015
- RISD Museum – “Faculty Biennial,” Providence, RI – Video Installation, February 2013
- City Canvases, Bridgeport, CT – Building projection, July 2012
- UCONN Stamford Art Gallery “A Changing World: Women Respond,” Stamford, CT – Video installation, March 2012
- Artspace “City Wide Open Studios,” New Haven, CT – Dual projection with sound, October 2011
Press
New Boston Post “Old Bags Tackles Body Image Issues”
The Boston Globe ” The Old Bags Project Spotlights the Insidiousness of Ageism”
The Village Voice “These Old Bags Are Taking A Stand Against Age Discrimination”
Irish Examiner “Ageing With Attitude: Old Bags Stand Up for A Right to Live a Full Life”
Senior Planet “Who’s An Old Bag Now?”
SELF “The Old Bags Project Highlights How Society Treats Middle- Aged Women”
Women You Should Know “Old Bags: Exploring the Lives of Middle -Aged Women”
The Huffington Post “Semi-Nude Photo Series will Empower Older Women with Body Woes”
The Harford Courant “Old Bags – A Revealing Look at Age and Body Image“
The American Scholar “Here’s Looking at You”
Providence Journal “RISD Faculty Show a Smorgasbord for Art Lovers”
Connecticut Post “Stripped to the basics women reveal the experience of aging in America”