Documentary winds through Mattress Factory’s 40 years
“I really like the world of ideas,” Barbara Luderowski says in the new film, “Site-Specific: A History of the Mattress Factory.” She was describing a personal trait, but it’s one that is also key to the founding of the North Side museum.
The 97-minute documentary by Pittsburgh filmmaker David Bernabo premiered at the museum last week and will be screened at 7 p.m. Thursday at Pittsburgh Filmmakers’ Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Ave., North Oakland. Tickets are $8 at www.davidbernabo.info or $10 at the door.
The film will then travel to Cincinnati, St. Louis, Denver, Santa Fe and other cities.
Timed to Mattress Factory’s 40th anniversary, Mr. Bernabo’s film weaves archival material, interviews and current exhibition imagery to reveal the persona of an institution that accommodates fluidity within artists’ visions while maintaining high professional standards.
Highlights include interviews with Ms. Luderowski, co-director Michael Olijnyk and archival footage of a young James Turrell installing a work for the permanent collection, a costumed Yayoi Kusama in her 1996 installation, and the late Rolf Julius at work on a sound piece.
The opening footage of visitors engaging with Pittsburgh environmental artist Angelo Ciotti’s 1983 “Earth Works” sets the film’s tone. There is much more that could be included in a history of this unique museum, but that is fodder for future films.
An opening reception for “The Art of Giving: Selections From the Richard M. Scaife Bequest” will be held from 5:30-7 p.m. Saturday at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, 221 N. Main St, Greensburg.
The exhibition comprises the 25 top choices made by The Westmoreland and by the Brandywine River Museum of Art as they divided Mr. Scaife’s art collection. It continues through Aug. 5.
Tickets, $20 or $15 for members, include two drink tickets and may be purchased at http://thewestmoreland.org.
Photo collecting
“The Last Five Photos I Bought: Building a Collection of Photos” will be discussed by a panel of museum, corporate and personal collectors from 6:309:30 p.m. Thursday at Silver Eye Center For Photography. Panelists are Karen Irvine, deputy director and chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago; Brian Lang, curator of the corporate art collection at BNY Mellon; and David Oresick, Silver Eye executive director.
Silver Eye is at 4808 Penn Ave., Garfield. Admission is free. For information or to reserve tickets, visit www.silvereye.org.
Queer fairy tales and experimental shorts are the focus of the final installment of the Luna Park Experimental Film & Media Series presented by Pittsburgh Filmmakers at Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Ave., North Oakland.
“Out in the Woods: Queer Folk and Fairy Tales,” comprising 16 queer interpretations of world folk and fairy tales, will be screened at 8 p.m. Friday. “Over the Rainbow: Queer and Experimental Shorts for Kids of All Ages” comprises eight short films beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday. At noon, Akasha L. Van-Cartier will lead a Drag Queen Story Hour.
Tickets are $8 at the door.