Good Gravy, It's Family Day!

As usual the Mattress Factory will be hosting its yearly Black Friday Family Day on November 25th from 11am-4pm (the day after Thanksgiving)! Avoid the shopping crowds and enjoy not one, but TWO fantastic exhibitions in our galleries and hands-on art activities for the whole family in our lobby. 

We are especially excited this year that visitors can experience artists’ work from (literally) all over the world. Sites of Passage, an exhibit on contemporary Egyptian life and art—from the perspectives of American and Egyptian artists—can be found in our annex building.  Special guest, Sites of Passage Curator, Tavia La Follette will give a guided tour of the exhibit at 1pm (first come, first serve—space is limited).  At 2pm, Gary Huck—Firefly Tunnel participant and political cartoonist—will host a drop-in collage-cartooning workshop until 4pm in the museum’s lobby. All ages and types are welcome! 

 Join Gary Huck for his drop-in
collage-cartooning workshop on 11/25/11!

Visitors can also take in the museum’s newest exhibition, Factory Installed--brand new site-specific installations by 5 artists (from 5 different countries) in our galleries at 500 Sampsonia Way. Join us all day for a lobby activity based on Pablo Valbuena’s mind-bending installation, Para-Site [mattress factory].

Pablo Valbuena standing in front of his installation, Para-Site [mattress factory]

Also in our lobby will be our newest education project, Tamatebako. Created by Japanese artist Yumi Kori, Tamatebako is a portable, fabric room for experiencing space. See it at the MF before it is lent to the Children’s Museum for the entire month of December.

 MF Shannon (right) and I (left) try out Tamatebako

Of course as always, discover (or perhaps revisit) our noteworthy permanent collection works in both buildings, grab a bite to eat in our café, and indulge in a bit of holiday shopping in our unique museum store.

Hope to see you all there!

PS: I heard a rumor that there MAY be a complimentary hot chocolate bar and stamp-your-own holiday wrap station as well…. Just sayin'!

Mattress Factory Education and Outreach programs are supported by the Allegheny Regional Assets District, Milton and Sally Avery Art Foundation, Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, The Jack Buncher Foundation, the Grable Foundation, Institute for Museum and Library Services, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, PNC Charitable Trusts, and the Surdna Foundation.

POSTED BY LIZ Read All Posts by Liz

516 Sampsonia Way is underway!

We hope you'll join us this Thursday, November 10th at 10am for a groundbreaking celebration of our newest exhibition space – 516 Sampsonia!

516 Sampsonia with the main galleries at 500 Sampsonia in the background

The Mattress Factory is currently renovating an 1890 Victorian-era row house and vacant lot located at 516 & 518 Sampsonia Way. By the end of summer, we'll will have an additional 2,500 square feet of space for more exhibitions and programs.

"It really does give us a much more flexible schedule so that there should be always something interesting to see. We love the fabric of this neighborhood. We love the idea of keeping this old building, not tearing it down, not building something that would be more appropriate."

                             -Michael Olijnyk, Co-Director, as quoted by William Loeffler, Tribune-Review


Watch the retrofitting progress here:

Groundbreaking Celebration
Thursday, November 10, 2011
10am
Coffee and pastries will be available
Free and open to everyone

POSTED BY LINDSAY Read All Posts by Lindsay