An art exhibit on tote bags runs through March 2 in the art gallery, located in the Dale A. Lyons Building on the Dowagiac campus of Southwestern Michigan College. An artist reception was Thursday. The exhibit is open to the public.

Tote bags have become synonymous with urban dwelling; they provide temporary shelter for books, groceries, and workout clothes.

How is this object potentially being activated as a moveable artwork? How are the bags traveling sculptural pieces that are potentially being reshaped and re-envisioned by the artists designing them, the goods they carry,and the places they go?

This exhibition includes new transportable objects by Cabinet 713, of Seattle, Wash.; Golden Age, of Chicago; Shannon Eakins, of Las Vegas, Nev.; Jackie Baker, of Dowagiac; Kristen T. Ramirez, of Ballard, Wash.; Shybirdy, a farming collective based in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Ruth Marie Tomlinson, of Columbia City, Wash.; and Emily Utermark, of Dowagiac.

Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday or by appointment.

For more information, call 782-1382.