Maybe it is the memory of a little child tugging on the end of its strings.

Maybe it is the look of white flour caked on its messy fabric.

Or maybe it is the reminder to make something for dinner tonight.

Whichever, almost everyone has an instant image come to mind upon hearing the word, “apron.”

“We all have some connection to aprons,” said Nancy A. Kinzinger, museum coordinator for the Suffolk Musuem. “Whether it is through a mother, grandmother, work setting, aprons are a very commonplace thing.”

Starting next week, the Suffolk Museum will further explore aprons when the “Personal Armor: Artists Look at Aprons & Recycled Art” exhibit comes to town.

The exhibit has pieces from artists all over the country, as well as several local artists. Each artist was asked to take the apron from beyond the obvious and make it art in a personal way.

“It’s really a very loose description of what they would see as an apron or personal armor,” Kinzinger said. “Some of the work is very conceptual. It’s three-dimensional. Some of it is two-dimensional. It’s a variety of media: glass, metal, fiber, clay. The artists really have their own take on what this armor means.”

While the exhibit features approximately 30 different interpretations on aprons, Kinzinger said people still will find a way to connect to the age-old piece of clothing.

“Most people have some sort of concept of what an apron is,” she said. “They have some sort of personal experience with them and I think what will be interesting will be not only how to see how the individual artists see those things, but I think there will be a lot of personal connections made. It’s a very personal thing.”

The exhibit will open May 2, with an opening reception from 3 to 6 p.m. There will also be a trolley at the museum to take guests to four other venues (Shooting Star Gallery, Red Thread Studio, Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts and Riddick’s Folly), which are also presenting exhibits under the theme of “Domestic Bliss.”

The “Armor” exhibit will run until June 12.

Also beginning May 2 will be the “Recycled Art” exhibit at the Suffolk Museum. The exhibit features work from the Elizabeth Scheid, a Washington D.C.-based artist who uses recycled glass to make intricate sculptures.

For more information, contact the Suffolk Museum at 514-7284 or Suffolk Art League at 925-0448.