The Mattress Factory is a contemporary art museum located in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . It was a pioneer of site-specific installation art and features permanent installations by artists Yayoi Kusama , James Turrell , and Greer Lankton . The museum's roof itself is a light art installation and part of Pittsburgh's Northside evening skyline.
6-515: Barbara Luderowski purchased a derelict Stearns & Foster mattress warehouse in 1975. The museum achieved non-profit status in 1977. Over the next forty years, Luderowski would attract upcoming installation artists to fill its rooms. The Mattress Factory along with its neighbors City of Asylum and Randyland are credited with playing a role in Pittsburgh's revitalization. In 1975, artist and Mattress Factory founder Barbara Luderowski purchased
12-555: 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
18-502: A report published in Pittsburgh's WESA detailed five employees' allegations of sexual misconduct and the mishandling of the situation by the Mattress Factory and its director, Michael Olijnyk. The complaint was filed with the National Labor Relations Board, and in early January 2019, a settlement was reached and the investigation was closed. As of 2024, the Mattress Factory hosts 20 long-term installations. The following
24-933: A tour of the city's North Side . In 1975 she purchased an empty six-story factory in the Central Northside , where mattresses had been manufactured at the turn of the 20th century. She immediately moved in, and from the beginning envisioned the building as a place where she could work on her own sculpture while sharing studio space and conversation with other artists. Luderowski founded the namesake Mattress Factory museum in 1977, dedicating it to site-specific installation art , much of it by artists in residence. Although Mattress Factory installations change regularly, with some 650 different artists showing installation and performance pieces over its nearly 40-year history, permanent exhibits include important works by Yayoi Kusama and Greer Lankton , as well as three installations by James Turrell . Luderowski owned several properties around
30-532: Is a list: Barbara Luderowski Barbara Luderowski (January 26, 1930 – May 30, 2018) was an American artist and museum administrator, who founded the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and served as the museum's president and co-director. With her ten-year-old daughter, Luderowski moved to Pittsburgh from Birmingham, Michigan around 1972, and decided to buy a condemned home after taking
36-401: 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: In September 2018,
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