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

It was such a RAD day

This past Sunday the MF joined it's fellow Pittsburgh institutions and opened up it's doors to the public for free as part of RADical Days.

Our little museum was packed full of friendly faces (more than 600 of 'em!) and we couldn't have loved it more.

Dotted boxes were everywhere as visitors took part in an ARTLab activity based on "Sites of Passage" artist Mostafa Sleem's piece Mind Area "Sound of the Sound."

Local artist and MF friend Rose Clancy brought her group exhibition Your Place at the Banquet to the 4th floor of the museum in the form of delicious soup and Kevin Clancy's awesome mobile food stations.

 

Folks braved the rain and made their way down the block to our satellite space at 1414 Monterey to check out our latest exhibition "Sites of Passage."

 

As everyone's faces could tell you, it was a pretty rad day.

New BoxSpring Café Hours!

 We are happy to let you know that the BoxSpring Café is now open every day the Museum is open! 

Tuesday - Saturday 11am-4pm and now Sunday 1-4pm!

MF Lynn is ready to tempt you with delicious treats. 

And fruit. But who wants fruit when there are treats around?

The Sunday menu:

FILL THIS BOX

The directions read: "Evidence of human learning. Please contribute."


To find out what this means, stop by our monthly ARTlab in the lobby of the Mattress Factory between 1-4pm tomorrow, Saturday, September 17, 2011.

Hint: This ARTlab activity is inspired by "Sites of Passage" artist Mostafa Sleem's piece Mind Area "Sound of the Sound" :

Where: Mattress Factory lobby
When: 1-4pm, Saturday, September 17, 2011
Who: Open to all
Cost: Free

Sights of Summer

Summer is over. School is back in session. The sun is setting a little earlier each night.

MF Shop Coordinator, Sam Ditch, snapped these photos of our Community Garden Party on June 19, 2011, with her phone camera and I think they really capture the essence of summer.

You'll catch me viewing this slide show in the middle of snowy and gray January daydreaming of hula-hoops and sprinklers.

Farewell summer. I'll miss you.

POSTED BY LINDSAY Read All Posts by Lindsay

Hangin' out at Lake Liz for Art Outdoors

Thursday, September 1st, is the final day of Art Outdoors for 2011.

Every Thursday during the summer, the MF Education Department has set up shop in West Park near Lake Elizabeth on the Northside. We've offered a range of different hands-on activities related to the outdoors and art each week. We partnered with Venture Outdoors and Kayak Pittsburgh for this unique program – thanks to them and for everyone involved* in helping provide free weekly programs for all ages. You'll find us under the blue tent next to Kayak Pittsburgh's unmistakable yellow kayaks (and, yes, you can try your hand at paddling on the little lake for free).

The summer has flown by, so if you haven't had a chance to stop by yet, we hope to see you tomorrow (Lake Liz, 4-6pm, free). For encouragement, we leave you with a few photos from this summer's activities, including a photo of our lovely Director of Education, Liz Keller, and Museum Educator, Gian Carlos, making their way to the Lake via the Mattress Factory staff's favorite form of transportation: bicycling!

Liz and Gian in the MF parking lot heading out to Art Outdoors last Thursday

The Aviary makes magic happen for our 2nd annual Art Outdoors dove release

Kayak Pittsburgh is on hand to teach you how to paddle

Don't want to get wet? Head over to the MF art tent and get creative

Nothing like chillin' in a boat in an urban setting

*Mattress Factory Education and Outreach programs are supported by the Allegheny Regional Assets District, the Grable Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.