Mattress Factory 3.97

The Mattress Factory is a museum of contemporary art located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US. Located in the Mexican War Streets neighborhood of Pittsburgh’s Central Northside since 1977, the Mattress Factory is host to 75,000 visitors per year. It exhibits room-sized installation art by regional, national and international artists.HistoryIn 1975, artist and Mattress Factory founder Barbara Luderowski purchased a former Stearns & Foster mattress warehouse at 500 Sampsonia Way in Pittsburgh’s Central Northside. Originally, she used the warehouse as a space to live, work and build a community of artists and intellectuals. The community grew and in 1977—after two years of hosting art exhibits and a small food co-op—the Mattress Factory was established as a legal non-profit educational and cultural corporation. Its first exhibition of installation art opened five years later on May 8, 1982, and the museum has since grown to be an integral part of the Pittsburgh arts community, known for its artist residency program, educational programming, and unique exhibitions. In 2008 then-Curator of Exhibitions Michael Olijnyk joined Luderowski in leading the museum as Co-Director.Over the years the Mattress Factory has acquired more properties for various purposes, including: 1414 Monterey Street, which became a new gallery spaceTwo buildings on North Taylor Street that became artist residences505 Jacksonia Street, which is now used as a parking lot for museum visitors, and the adjacent lot, which now houses Winifred Lutz's Garden Installation, 1993516 Sampsonia Way, which opened as gallery space in Fall 2013