Useless at the MF

Regular readers of the MF blog know the museum tries hard to maintain environmentally responsible organizational procedures. From our use of QR Codes in the galleries and facility-wide CFL lighting to the retro-fitting of our properties and GREEN membership program, we strive to make sure what we do has the least amount of impact to the environment as possible. And now I'm happy to announce we're extending that mission into our product selection in the MF shop.

Many of the new green items in the shop come from Useless, an organization that focuses on using less and giving more in order to maintain a better planet. The organization is based around the reuse of materials to create chic, eco-friendly products. Think about all the useless things that we buy everyday, and then consider putting your money to a good cause like Useless. 10% of their profits fund clean water and sanitation projects around the world. You can see the exact project your money is going to by visiting their website: www.useless.org. All of their products are made in the USA and are created from recycled and sustainable materials. The MF Shop offers their BPA-free, recyclable water bottles, organic cotton tshirts, in both men's and women's sizes, and billboard tote bags.



And for a short time only, you can add a MF Green Membership to any Useless Merchandise (or any other Green product) purchase for only $40! (A $10.00 discount) So think about the Mattress Factory in your own mission to "go green," and become a Green Member today!

POSTED BY ERIN Read All Posts by Erin

GESTURES 13: Embeddable E-Flyers

It's that time again. We're three weeks out from the opening of another Gestures exhibition! This, the thirteenth installment in the Gestures Exhibition Series, will open with a public reception on Friday, July 24, from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM. If you plan to attend, you can RSVP and keep tabs on who else will be there over on FaceBook. We had such a blast working with guest-curator Katherine Talcott on Gestures 12 that we've asked her to curate this upcoming exhibition as well. Katherine has chosen some amazing artists including Stephanie Armbruster, Jeremy Boyle, Nayda Collazo-Llorens, Jonny Farringdon, Victoria Hruska & La Toya Frasier, Gary Huck, Andrew Ellis Johnson, Amanda Long, Lindsay O'Leary, Drew Pavelchak, Renee Piechocki, John Riegert, The Urban Gardener: Joan Kimmel & Lynne Weber, Patricia Villalobos Echeverria and Dror Yaron.

This is where you come in. With each new exhibition and event, we are consistently blown away by the support from our online community. I've embedded two sizes of electronic flyers (complete with corresponding HTML code) below. Feel free to help spread the word by posting these awesome Brett Yasko-designed flyers within your social networks and emailing to the art-loving friends in your contact book. Anything you can do is greatly appreciated by the artists and all of us here at the MF! I hope to see you at the opening on July 24.

EMBED THIS 500 x 790 E-FLYER:
Copy and paste this HTML code:

<a href="http://www.mattress.org/index.cfm?event=Exhibitions&c=Upcoming"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2489/3685557078_3c4d0d8fbc_o.jpg" BORDER="0"></a>

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EMBED THIS 316 x 500 E-FLYER:
Copy and paste this HTML code:

<a href="http://www.mattress.org/index.cfm?event=Exhibitions&c=Upcoming"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2489/3685557078_46b8be6729.jpg" BORDER="0"></a>

POSTED BY JEFFREY Read All Posts by Jeffrey

Denver Broncos UK - FRIDAY SHOW SOLD OUT

The basement of the Mattress Factory has seen some interesting things throughout the museum’s 32 year history. It’s been filled with candy for Rebecca Holland’s installation Glaze (2003) and most recently flooded with water for kanata (2008), a piece by artist Yumi Kori. But for two nights this summer, the lower level of the Mattress Factory will be transformed into an intimate concert space for the performance debut of Denver Broncos UK.



            

Due to limited seating, two concerts will take place on Friday, July 31 SOLD OUT and Saturday, August 1, at 9:00 PM.

UPDATE 7/31/2009: Friday's Denver Broncos UK show is SOLD OUT. A few tickets remain for the Saturday performance, so we recommend reserving your tickets now.

Denver Broncos UK features Munly Munly, Slim Cessna, and Lord Dwight Pentacost, three musicians who have been working together for more than a decade as one half of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club (Alternative Tentacles). Though the music itself may be unclassifiable, the band’s songs are best described as dynamic, suspenseful, painful and beautiful. The sparse arrangements feature an array of instruments put to exotic use; guitar, autoharp, accordion, bowed banjo, and numerous percussive instruments; a landscape inhabited by haunted vocal harmonies. The sum of all parts reveals itself as a darkly-lit celebration of traditional American music, forged into a surprising new form.

Both MF performances will feature set design and video projections by Owen Smith, and will be documented for future release by the band. To learn more about the Denver Broncos UK, visit http://www.myspace.com/denverbroncosusa.

POSTED BY JEFFREY Read All Posts by Jeffrey

Rob Rogers Finds Inspiration In MF Barbara

POSTED BY JEFFREY Read All Posts by Jeffrey

2009 Urban Garden Party Wrap-Up

And like that, it's over. In case you haven't heard, we threw one major party last Friday! Thank you so much to everyone who attended and/or donated their time/money/muscle to help make the 2009 Urban Garden Party the most successful Mattress Factory fundraiser ever! We couldn't have done it without you. And for those who couldn't attend (or those who did and want to relive the experience), we just uploaded more than 100 photos to our Flickr stream. A slideshow is embedded below.



You can access the entire album HERE. All photos are high-resolution (courtesy of John Altdorfer) and available as FREE downloads (personal use only, please!). And remember, all of this is to help support Mattress Factory exhibitions, programs and operations, so please consider leaving a little something in the tipjar.

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UPDATE 1: Do you have photos from your Urban Garden Party experience? Add them to the Mattress Factory Group Pool on Flickr!

UPDATE 2: Check out this amazing Garden Party photo set by Jo Ellen Smith.

UPDATE 3: More than 100 Garden Party photos taken by MF Twitter Posse member @robjdlc

UPDATE 4: This Flickr Set from Jeff Lantz has another 93 Garden Party photos. Awesome!

POSTED BY JEFFREY Read All Posts by Jeffrey

2009 Urban Garden Party Trailer

Yikes! We're five days out from the 2009 Urban Garden Party, our big annual fundraiser. This year's event is going to be over-the-top and things are definitely coming together – the lobby is rapidly being converted to a graffiti-laden backstage hang-out for the VIP Pre-Party and the largest tent I've ever seen has been erected on our brand new parking lot! So, to get everyone in the mood and feeling this year's theme, we've produced this 2 minute Urban Garden Party trailer. We hope you like it. Please feel free to share with your friends!

POSTED BY JEFFREY Read All Posts by Jeffrey

We did it! We're sweaty, but we did it!

Regular readers of the MF Blog will know that April was officially declared the month of highlighting the Green efforts of the Mattress Factory. But because the Greening of the museum is an ongoing project, the Development Department (located on the third - and highest - floor of the MF administrative building) decided to partake in an energy usage experiment. We were curious about our potential impact–on both usage and the monthly financials–if we went the entire month of May without using heat or, more noticeably, air conditioning. Remember now how heat rises?

So from May 1st through May 31st, all heating and air conditioning remained off. Kudos to Jeffrey, Emily, Claudia, Colleen and Shannon for sweatin' through May with me.

Not only did we shave a wee bit from our carbon footprint, we were able to save a few bucks. Not a bad deal, really. What we weren't prepared for was the extreme humidity toward the end of the month. We survived two straight days of 88 degrees and nearly 100% humidity in the office. The dozens of windows offer an abundance of natural sunlight and gorgeous views, but the greenhouse effect is a little less than welcome on a warm, humid day. We did it, though! Yeah!

Every little gesture makes a difference, so why not turn up your thermostat a few degrees this summer and grab a MF Green Membership with the extra cash you save?

POSTED BY LINDSAY Read All Posts by Lindsay