Recap and Farewell: Teen Art Cooperative: January – May!

Emily Simons talks about the work of the Beehive Collective with Co-op members.

Since we last checked in, the Teen Art Cooperative has been up to so much! We started out the New Year with a compelling and informative workshop from Emily Simons of the Beehive Collective, followed by a captivating and collaborative visual workshop from current Mattress Factory artist Kevin Clancy. As Spring rolled in, we made our own jewelry pieces with local artist Catharine Luckett, and then had a lesson in visual literacy from the wonderful Joey Behrens.

Co-op members explore phenomenal properties of light and technology with Kevin Clancy.

During this time, we also worked hard on planning our second event UNHIBERNATE, which took place on April 1, 2016.

Flyer for Teen Art Co-op's event UNHIBERNATE. 

The event featured performances from local bands Chattel Tail, Chase the Monkey and Nox Boys, as well as visits from local organizations 1Hood, Bike Pittsburgh and our friend Emily Simons of the Beehive Collective. By the end of the night, our donation-based admission station had collected 254 pounds of canned and dry goods for the Northside Community Food Pantry!

UNHIBERNATE guests smile as balloons drop during the Nox Boys performance.

As the end of year drew closer, the Co-op members packed in some great, informative field trips to Radiant Hall Studios in Lawrenceville and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild on the North Side.

Artist Liz Rudnick speaks with Co-op members about her practice at Radiant Hall Studios in Lawrenceville.

We learned how to make and stitch our very own books with Sarah Croop, and we playfully experimented with movement and readymade sculptures with artist Jasen Bernthisel.

Co-op members work on their folding skills during a bookmaking workshop with artist Sarah Croop. The workshop took place inside of the Rob Voerman's installation Faculty on the fourth floor. 

Before we knew it, it was time for the Cooperative to think about its final event of the season. After some hard work and thoughtful planning, KALEIDOSCOPE emerged — a collective art show featuring the work of all 11 Co-op members. The evening also featured a musical performance by previous Co-op members Mogo as well as Voice Channel, a project created by a group from Winchester Thurston High School that is concerned with amplifying youth voices in the social justice realm.

KALEIDOSCOPE took place on Friday, May 27, and it was a wonderful way to bookend an amazing year. We can't wait to see what each of these Co-op members will create, tackle, and organize next...we are sure it will be stellar!

The Cooperative poses for a final group shot at their collective art show KALEIDOSCOPE, with Co-op member Janine Paulson's piece 'Table Cloths and Bed Sheets' as a backdrop. 

RECAP // Teen Summer Art Cooperative Program

This past summer 16 high school students spent three days a week at the museum participating in the inaugural year of the Mattress Factory's Summer Art Cooperative. We launched this program because we wanted to make the Mattress Factory a resource for students in the same way that we act as a resource for professional artists—a place where they can experiment, think big, and take their work to the next level.

The Summer Art Cooperative also addresses the ins and outs of being an artist- expanding our teens’ repertoire of techniques and methods, but also to help them figure out how to make art stay a part of their life as they transition into self-sufficiency and start thinking about their own career pathway. Basically, what we wanted to do with the Summer Art Cooperative is combine all of the “aha” moments that have helped to get us where we’re at—to pool our collective epiphanies together—so that pursuing a creative life doesn’t seem so impossible or financially unstable.

The students in this program had the opportunity to meet with ten different working artists and creative folks in the Pittsburgh community. The goals was to expose students to a variety of new mediums, new definitions of being an artists and the various ways to live a creative life. The students had workshops with John Peña (an artist featured in our recent Artists in Residence exhibition), Frederick Arnold, owner of a local record label, Caiti Sullivan, a master fermenter + pickler, Kevin Clancy, taught a workshop on inflatable utopias, Michael Koliner taught students about cob and hosted a workshop called “Mud Dance!” and more. Students also met with most of the Mattress Factory staff to truly understand what happens behind-the-scenes. From the first day of the program the students also had the challenge of planning their own event. The group decided that they wanted to host their own art exhibition featuring work by all of the Cooperative members on the theme of Identity.

The final celebration and showcase was a huge success. The Cooperative students organized and played experimental music made out of game boy loops and synth samples, showed an installations that included fake blood, fake birthday cakes, a smoking slime ball, an inflatable tetrahydron, and much much more. There was tons and tons of pizza and so many family and friends came out to support the students and celebrate all their handwork. It was an awesome summer and we can’t wait to see what our artists do next.

If you are interested in teen programming at the Mattress Factory, be sure to check out our new TEEN ART COOPERATIVE program. We will meet on Thursdays from 4-6pm at the museum. Applications are due Sunday, September 20th and space is limited! If you are interested in finding out more about the Teen Art Cooperative come to our info session on Tuesday, September 15th from 3:30-6pm. For questions and more information e-mail stephanie@mattress.org.