GUEST POST: Behind Our Scenes

The following is a guest-post from Nicole Rosato, Visitor Services & Volunteer Coordinator for the Mattress Factory. When not greeting the public at the museum, Nicole can usually be found cutting out the lines of road maps and chillin' with her dog Tango. This is her first post on the MF Blog.

Hello! I’m Nicole, the Visitor Services and Volunteer Coordinator here at the MF, and I wanted to share with you a curatorial project that I'm involved with featuring Mattress Factory staff. Working in Pittsburgh museums for over four years now, I’ve realized that there are many talented artists who work within these cultural institutions. These are artists who dedicate their days promoting the artwork of others and their nights & weekends creating artwork of their own.

My friend Laura Mustio and I decided to curate a group exhibition that would give some of these artists working "backstage" in Pittsburgh’s museums and galleries their own chance in the spotlight. The show is called Behind Our Scenes and will open at SPACE Gallery this Friday, December 11th from 6-9 PM.



There are 34 individuals in this show, all representing a united community of artists working throughout the city. Many members of the Mattress Factory staff are involved including: Shannon Knepper (Graphic Designer), Nathan Hall (Administrative Assistant), Lindsay O’Leary (Membership & Development Coordinator), Kelley Krapp (Weekend Supervisor), Ian Page (Installer), Alice Wynn (MF Volunteer Extraordinaire) and Katherine Young (a former MFer).

All the pertinent details are below and I invite you to attend the opening and support the MF artists as well as artists from: The Carnegie Museum of Art, The Andy Warhol Museum, FE Arts Gallery, Future Tenant, and Wood Street Galleries. I hope to see you there!

SPACE [map]
812 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Phone: 412.325.7723
Website: http://www.spacepittsburgh.org
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 11AM-6PM Friday-Saturday 11AM-8PM

Pittsburgh Green Bridge Project

The Pittsburgh-Green-Bridge Project is a collaboration among students at CAPA High School and the University of Pittsburgh; the Mattress Factory; artists Constance Merriman, JoAnna Commandaros, Karen Page, Heather White and David Pohl; and residents of Pittsburgh’s urban community and Greenspaces. Under the guidance of artists and with the resources of the Mattress Factory, young people are creating individual and collaborative works of public art that bridge and connect Greenspaces with Brownfield or industrial sites, providing corridors of movement and interaction among people plants and animals.

Working within the structure of high school and college art classes, as well as the Mattress Factory’s teen program, a group of 15 high school students under CAPA teacher Karen Page have been matched with 15 Pitt students in JoAnna Commandaros Eco Art class. This interdisciplinary project includes study, observation, documentation, discussion, implementation and celebration.

The project is providing an opportunity for budding artists in Pittsburgh by encouraging the creation of effective and environmentally-sensitive artwork. The collaboration has been centered around Japanese Knotweed, an invasive species not native to Pittsburgh that is currently impacting Schenley Park. The groups teamed with restoration ecologists to clear a pathway and collect the knotweed. An installation reflecting the experiences of the artists, students and the community will open here at the museum this Saturday from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.  The piece will also be on view December 13th from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

POSTED BY ANNA Read All Posts by Anna

Intelligent Design with MF Shannon: Low-Res vs. High Res

Intelligent Design, a reoccurring series on the MF blog published by graphic designer Shannon Knepper, tackles a different design issue with each installment. This first post in the series examines the difference between high-resolution and low-resolution images. In addition to handling the lion's share of the graphic design for the museum, Shannon also runs her own design company, War Admiral Press.



Ever printed something directly from a website and it came out looking like this?

This is a low-resolution image. We could get into pixels and dots, but I’m assuming you didn’t come here to die of boredom. Basically, the majority of images on the web are low-resolution; tiny files make for faster loading. Faster loading makes for less monitor punching. And so, because designers are generally against punching of all kinds, we make images with lower resolution. They look great on screen, but terrible on paper.

You wanna print something? That's where hi-res (or high resolution) images come into the picture. These images have more information crammed into the file, so that when you print it out on paper, it comes out as crisp and clean as a pair of freshly-ironed undergutchies. Naturally, these files are bigger. And not web friendly. And oftentimes NOT email friendly. Try sending a few 20 megabyte files to your friends and see how popular you become!

So, the next time you print something out and it's all fuzzy, it's probably a low-resolution image; if there's a bigger file available, then go big! Or go home. Unless you are home. And then…uh…you should probably go out and do something. Seriously.

POSTED BY SHANNON Read All Posts by Shannon

'Tis the Season for Families at the MF

This week we welcome the beginning of the 2009 holiday season. I really enjoy this time of year here at the museum because it's a popular time for families to visit. As an arts educator, watching children experience the artwork here at the MF is an amazing thing. Their enthusiasm, awe and eloquence describing their experience is continuing inspiration for me in my position as Director of Education.

Having said that, I'd like to invite you and your family to join us on the day after Thanksgiving (November 27th) for Family Day at the MF. Every year on Black Friday, the Mattress Factory offers an alternative to long shopping lines and crowded department stores. This year is no different! Beginning at 10:00AM, we'll have a lobby full of hands-on art activities including a contemporary portraiture project related to our current exhibition, LIKENESS. And as a special addition this year, our good friends from Artists Image Resource will be here leading a screen printing activity.

As if this wasn't enough, guided tours will be given at 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM, and the BoxSpring Café will be open for lunch. All Family Day activities are FREE with regular museum admission, so forget the mall this Friday and join us for an afternoon of art the whole family can get into! I hope to see you here.

POSTED BY ANNA Read All Posts by Anna

Notes From the Archive: MF Limited Editions

One project I’m currently focusing on in the MF archives is getting our Limited Edition collection online. The items in this collection are comprised of various works on paper and three dimensional sculptures, and are representations of past Mattress Factory installations. Typically, the artist will focus on an element or idea from their large-scale exhibition piece and create a smaller-scale run of works. The pieces are then numbered, signed and made available for purchase here at the museum. Proceeds from the sale are split 50/50 between the artist and the MF.

Virtually all of the work artists create at the Mattress Factory isn’t made to be sold or installed in a home environment. Therefore, the Limited Edition collection is unique in that someone can take an element of Mattress Factory art home with them. The collection currently features work from some of our permanent collection artists; Rolf Julius (pictured below), William Anastasi, and Jene Highstein. We also have pieces by artists whose work is no longer exhibiting such as David Ellis, Jessica Stockholder, Deborah Aschheim, Mark Garry, and Dove Bradshaw.

Of course, I won’t be doing all of the work necessary to get these works online. In fact, much of my work will be quite invisible. I’m responsible for producing catalog information about each piece and entering that information into our collections database. We currently use a simple database platform (HINT: exciting news about this to come in a future blog post!) and most of the information is standard; artist, title of work, date, and dimensions. However, it is also important to note what type of ink was used, what kind of paper the work was printed on, or what sort of candy compound was used.

I’m also responsible for properly storing these items and organizing the archive so they can be found easily and quickly. Much of this work is already complete and I’m now focusing on making sure each artist's Limited Edition documentation folder has everything necessary should someone want to purchase a piece. These documents include certificates of authenticity for each edition to be sold, information about the artist (CV or biography), press relating to their exhibition and information about the original piece that inspired the edition.

Just yesterday, photographer Tom Little was here documenting the collection. Once we get the images back from Tom, I’ll gather all the relevant identifying information and send it all on to Jeffrey, who will serve it up to you, nice and pretty like, on the internet.

POSTED BY LEAH Read All Posts by Leah

Please Help: The 2009 Annual Fund

What a year it's been here at the Mattress Factory! With the closing of Inner and Outer Space early in January, we rolled through Predrive: After Technology, Thaddeus Mosley: Sculpture (Studio | Home), the 12th and 13th installments in the Gestures Exhibition Series, the most over the top Urban Garden Party in MF history, and just last month the opening of LIKENESS and the addition of Greer Lankton's It's all about ME, Not You to the museum's permanent collection. Quite a year for art and programming.

We also pushed technological boundaries by becoming the first museum in the United States to utilize QR code technology in the galleries to enhance visitor experiences. The MF iConfess & SCREENtxt projects were also innovative & experimental successes.

As you can probably assume, making art and producing these programs and exhibitions isn't cheap. It costs $45 per day to house one artist in residence. It costs $733 to fly a curator from Dublin to Pittsburgh. It costs $48 a day to keep the lights on in our galleries at 500 Sampsonia. It costs $2,200 to buy a video projector for an artist.

Friends, members and supporters like you help enable the Mattress Factory to continue offering an environment for artists and curators to take risks and create new work and exhibitions. Please consider giving to the Mattress Factory's 2009 Annual Fund today.

SIZE DOESN’T MATTER AT THE MF
Every gift, no matter what size, makes a big difference at the Mattress Factory. A high level of support from individuals like you can help the museum attract gifts from foundations, corporations and other sources. Your gift, combined with those from other friends of the Mattress Factory, helps us build a foundation to make strong exhibitions and education programs extraordinary. CLICK HERE to give $25 today!

We understand that some of you aren't in a financial position to give, and you can still help. Please use the buttons below to help spread the word by sharing this blog post with your online networks on FaceBook and Twitter. Every post helps.



DOUBLE IT
Many corporations will match their employees' gifts to the Mattress Factory with an equal corporate contribution. Check with your human resources office for details. You also can contact me, Lindsay, at lindsay [at] mattress [dot] org or 412-231-3169 and I’ll ask for you.

POSTED BY LINDSAY Read All Posts by Lindsay

Artist & Curator Harvest Talk

Naturally, the thing I look forward to most during a run of an exhibition here at the Mattress Factory is the educational programming my department produces. Through workshops, lectures, outreach events and artist/school partnerships, I love helping create opportunities that connect MF artists with the public and programs that encourage viewers to consider the relevance of art & creativity in their own lives. The next such event will take place this Saturday, November 7, here at the museum.

I invite you to join Gestures 13 curator Katherine Talcott and exhibiting artists Stephanie Armbruster, Jeremy Boyle, Jonny Farringdon, Nayda Collazo-Llorens, Amanda Long, Lindsay O'Leary, Drew Pavelchak, The Urban Gardner & Dror Yaron for an evening of artistic discussion and fall harvest treats. There will be a guided tour of the exhibition at 6:00PM and the discussion will begin at 7:00PM. Admission is $10, but as always: MF members, PITT + CMU Students are FREE with I.D. I hope to see you Saturday evening!

POSTED BY ANNA Read All Posts by Anna