Record-breaking Urban Garden Party fundraiser!

It's been exactly one week since the Urban Garden Party: Alice at the Factory and we're still a bit in shock from the amazing support we have received. With your help, we raised a record-breaking $220,000 for the museum's unique artistic and education programs!

Many thanks to everyone who helped in any and every way – corporate sponsors, visual and performance artists, volunteers, musicians, food vendors, host committee, photographers, ticket-buyers, and our Chairs Susan and Scott Lammie – we couldn't have done it without you. We are humbled.

What people are saying:

 "...And so the story goes that more than 1,300 guests were falling down the rabbit hole and into the summer soiree that has become infamous for a history of bold swan dives into edgy, eye-popping territory." 

- Kate Benz from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"The Mattress Factory's Urban Garden Party is held each year in the rugged outdoor space, and regulars (of which there are quite a few!) know to wear shoes that can handle the terrain. That doesn't preclude going all out in the costume department, and the "Alice at the Factory" theme inspired many mad hatters to don gay apparel."

-Marylynn Uricchio, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"The Mattress Factory’s Urban Garden Party should be on your to-do list for next year. Alice At The Factory was a perfect summer party, celebrating quirkiness and art, and supporting an organization that is one of Pittsburgh’s gems. We had a blast!!"

-Liz Labs, Nakturnal

"The MF's Urban Garden Party was over-the-top magical, tasty and eccentric, full of twirly-whirly dancing, and stuffing oneself silly!"
 -Anna Moore, Table Magazine

Curiouser and curiouser!

What people were photographing:

We are indebted to the fantastic photographers who really capture the soul and the depth of this one night!

The official MF photoset: John Altdorfer, Larry Rippel, Andy Rincon, and Ashley Noble
Jo Ellen Smith
Rob de la Cretaz

Even more photos:
WPXI
Showclix
Elevation Loft

We had Alice's prettiest rabbits attend the VIP party

See you at next year's Urban Garden Party on Friday, June 21st, 2013!

What do we want? RAINBOW WORLD! When do we want it? NOW!

What would you do if someone took away something you loved?  Would you demand its swift return?  Would you protest?  Would you take to the streets?

That’s exactly what the kids at MF’s Community ArtLab did yesterday when their beloved “rainbow world” (the colorful installation currently in our lobby) got tied up in knots and no longer hung down to the floor to flow freely. With a little help from ArtLab instructors Kevin Clancy and David Pohl, the kids decided to take matters into their own hands. Their list of demands was simple:  What did they want? RAINBOW WORLD!  When did they want it? NOW!

So they made some signs, grabbed some instruments, and set out onto Sampsonia Way to make some noise.

Some of our friends from Lungs Face Feet stopped by to help.

Each summer, MF’s Community ArtLab brings artists and educators together with local youth for a summer day camp experience that inspires creativity and initiates conversations about the community. With themes like “The Power of Play” and “Super Hero Snacktime,” each session of Community ArtLab gives kids a chance to explore artistic and practical ways to improve the places we live.

The theme of this week’s workshop is “Utopia.” Students have been visiting nearby gardens, pondering geodesic domes, and learning how to become the change they wish to see in the world. It’s fitting then, that they returned to the museum yesterday to find that sometimes dreaming big really does pay off–rainbow world was back!

This summer's Community ArtLab workshops are currently full, but you can click here to learn more about them or sign up for the waiting list.

The 2012 Community Garden Party is Almost Here!

Things are getting curiouser and curiouser here at MF with preparations for the 2012 Community Garden Party in full swing and only two weeks to go before Alice and her friends turn the garden into a magical place where everyone gets the chance to be a Mad Hatter, a hula hooper, and a silk screen artist. Your dreams will literally materialize in front of your eyes when artist Paul Nosa sews them onto fabric using a sustainably powered sewing machine, or when you order your first taco from the long-awaited PGH Taco Truck!

Silk Screening with AIR at last year's Community Garden Party

Partygoers can also look forward to entertainment from emcees Tom Sarver and Mike Cuccaro of the Puppet Happening, live music from local bands like the North Side Urban Pathways Sounds of Steel, and an introduction into the world of garden arts with artist Rose Clancy. The galleries will be open too so don’t forget to check out the awesome exhibitions currently on display.

Last year's hula hoop champion

This annual party is our way of saying thanks to the community for helping us facilitate another year of amazing art created by amazing artists. And as usual, it’s free and family friendly with lots of games, activities, and entertainment for everyone. None of it would be possible without the community members who support us, and for that we think you deserve a chance to experience wonderland, at least for a day.


WHAT: 2012 Community Garden Party
WHERE: The Mattress Factory, 500 Sampsonia Way, Pittsburgh, PA
WHEN: Sunday, June 17 2012, Noon – 5 p.m.
COST: FREE!

2012 Urban Garden Party: Alice at the Factory countdown!

Hard to believe, but our annual fundraiser, the Urban Garden Party, is just six weeks away! Things are really heating up for another fabulous event full of great food & drink, fresh sounds from multiple music performers from near (Pittsburgh) and far (NYC and Oregon), and a few fantastic curiosities. Follow this image during the next few weeks for a little surprise – we'll reveal a piece of the puzzle every other day.

UPDATE 5/18/12: The Queen of Hearts is none other than our fearless leader, founder and Co-Director Barbara Luderowski!

Tickets have sold out the last two years and we're on pace to sell out even sooner, so purchase your tickets today and enjoy a great party while supporting a great museum.

Paul Nosa: Sewing People's Imagination

A few days ago we received a request from Paul Nosa to hang out here at the museum and "sew people's imagination." We said yes.


Watch this video for some AMAZING backwards writing with thread.

Paul Nosa: sewing people's imagination. "Unexpected visitor at the tea party in the sky."
 
Paul is a sewing artist from Tucson, Arizona. He draws people's imagination with a sewing machine powered by a solar panel and a bicycle electric generator. He's currently on a sewing tour across America facilitating people's creativity and showing them how to make their own alternative energy sources.

Paul Nosa: sewing your dreams five words [or less] at a time. "Swimming through the day."
 
If you can think of a scenario in five words or less, he will sew it on the spot using a bicycle-powered sewing machine. When he isn't using his bicycle, he has some photovoltaic panels to juice up a battery which he can connect to his sewing machine on his distinctively outer space looking "Solar Sewing Rover." You can purchase your custom patch from him and walk away with a one-of-a-kind piece of art and feel great knowing you're supporting this talented artist's trek across the continent. We also have a few cool limited edition Paul Nosa MF totes available in the MF Shop.


Who: Paul Nosa
What: Sewing Artist from Tuscon is stopping by the Mattress Factory during his U.S. tour on his way from New York City to Los Angeles. 
This event is sponsored by the MF Shop.
When: Saturday, May 5, 2012, 11am-4pm
Where: In the Mattress Factory's "Garden" (or in the lobby if rain)

ArtLab: Projection Perception

This Saturday’s ArtLab will showcase Factory Installed artist Pablo Valbuena's video projection, Para-Site [mattress factory]. Pablo uses light and projection on a static wall to emphasize the preexisting architecture in the Museum. In doing so, he lays out the blueprint for an animated virtual space. At different times throughout his installation, it appears as if windows are folding and the space reflected by mirrors. None of these things physical happen; they’re all amazing optical illusions. Pablo explains his work as the "dissolution of the limit between real and perceived."

Pablo Valbuena's mind-bending installation, Para-Site [mattress factory]

This week’s featured ArtLab workshop leader is local installation artist and Mattress Factory Educator, Esti Piels. Esti will provide a video that the museum visitor will collaboratively create the context by drafting or illustrating a physical setting for the projection. Each visitor will be asked to view the video first and then create a composition or scene for the narrative to occur. This temporary "scenario" will be living for the duration of the brief projection while being video documented by Esti. She will then piece together each documented scene to create a feature length video collaboration. The finished product will be available on this blog in the near future.

 Pablo Valbuena's installation being enjoyed by Museum visitors.

Join Esti this Saturday and add your creative piece to this video collaboration!

What: ArtLab: Projection Perception
When: Saturday, May 5, 2012, 1-4pm
Where: In the Museum's lobby
Cost: Free w/ paid Museum admission


Left: Esti thinking hard about how to make 
Saturday's ArtLab fantastic

ArtLab: Come and FIND where you FIT IN!

Hi, Shannon the Education Programs Coordinator here. I’ve often proudly described the Mattress Factory as the “Island of Misfit Toys.” We love the diversity within our community of dedicated art-lovers and enthusiasts who frequent the Museum. This weekend we would like you to have a chance to contribute a piece of yourself to one of our ArtLab installations. Tomorrow we will be hosting a non-traditional, nonsectarian holiday ovule hunt (okay, okay, you can call it an art Easter egg hunt if you must).

Tomorrow from 1:00-4:00pm, visitors will be invited to search the galleries for items to be added to a collective installation. You may be surprised by what you find! We want the finished result to tell an interesting Mattress Factory tale of who we all are together.

These will be hidden throughout the Museum tomorrow – find one and bring it back to the lobby to help us complete the puzzle!

This project is a nod to Ling He's installation Wish exchange dandelion in our new exhibition "Gestures: Intimate Friction" over at our 1414 Monterey galleries. Ling says, "My wish to explore generosity is dispersed through 99 puzzle pieces traveling in balloon style that would spirit innocent spotters to return them, with drawings on their backs, to the gallery. Neither the puzzle, nor the room, has a right answer – it is defined with how much each participant would like to give."

 These are the puzzle pieces to Ling's installation Wish exchange dandelion which are somewhere out there in the North Side (if you find one, bring it back to the MF for free admission!)

At the bottom of each of these balloons is one of those clear puzzle pieces from Ling's Wish exchange dandelion. Museum visitors released these puzzle pieces and balloons during the exhibition opening on Friday, March 30th

In the spirit of Ling's community-building installation with all of those lovely red balloons, we'd love to see you tomorrow to locate and take these little pink coin machine capsules scattered around the galleries and help complete the installation!

ArtLab
Saturday, April 7, 2012
1-4pm
All ages
FREE w/paid Museum admission