Weekend Getaway: Full Contact Art Exhibit

There are thousands of museums in Pennsylvania, but none of them are quite like The Mattress Factory.

Don’t let the name fool you. The Mattress Factory isn’t full of beds.

It’s actually the only museum in the state with artwork that people can walk into and interact with.

It earned its unique name because the space had once been a mattress factory.

“We invite artists from all around the world to create their work at the museum,” says Samantha Paolo, communications and marketing director at The Mattress Factory. “They will come in and see the space they’re working with and create their work there.”

Located in the Central North-side neighborhood of Pittsburgh, the museum is a two and a half hour drive from State College.

According to Paolo, The Mattress Factory brings in artists from all around the world to create their work in individual rooms.

“Our most popular works are done by two artists, Rolf Julius and Yayoi Kusama,” Paolo says. “Kusama fills the room with colorful polka dots which looks very cool once you enter it and Julius does a lot of work with music in the gardens.”

Julius has three rooms dedicated to his music artwork and Kusama has two rooms for her polka dot-inspired creations.

The Mattress Factory also has some new exhibitions that were installed earlier this year.

“We have artists come here all throughout the year so we’re lucky to get so many new exhibitions,” Paolo says. “Some of our current exhibitions are called Factory Installed and Trace of Memory.”

Factory Installed is a two-part exhibition. The first exhibition is going on now and the second exhibition will start on September 18.

As you’re walking through this exhibit, you’ll see several room sized artwork created by local Pittsburgh artists.

Artist Annie Lindberg created room-sized drawings using a lot of colored thread to represent the human respiratory system. John Morris’s room is filled with everyday trash that’s been transformed into art.

Another current attraction is The Trace of Memory exhibition by Chiharu Shoita.

It has several rooms designed to look like peaceful and poetic environments. Shiota’s work explores the relationship between dreams and reality by covering everyday objects with webs of yarn.

“You won’t see art like this anywhere else in the state,” Paolo says. “Every exhibit we have is for all ages and we encourage our visitors to interact with the art, it makes the experience that much better.”

Admission to the Mattress Factory is $20 for adults, $15 for seniors (62+), $15 for students and $10 for U.S. veterans.

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