Installation Olympic Theatre At The Mattress Factory

Installation Olympic Theatre at The Mattress Factory!

Artist Tom Sarver of The Tom Museum, along with the Mattress Factory Museum of Art present Pittsburgh's newest art event, Installation Olympic Theatre. This event features three teams of Pittsburgh artists competing over 2.5 hours to build winning sculptural installations. The night will also feature food, beverages, audience participation games, music by Totten (member of The Great Ants) and DJ Sarver Express.

Installation Olympic Theatre takes place, Saturday, March 17th from 7pm to 10:30pm at the Mattress Factory. Tickets are $9.00 and $6.00 for students. (Available at the door)

Conceived by Tom Sarver, Installation Olympic Theatre brings the drama and excitement of reality TV straight to the art museum. The idea is closely connected to The Tom Museum's "Art For Everyone"
mission. It also attempts to bring people who are drawn to the action and excitement of sports into the arts.
Three teams of artists will be competing in the event for the title of "Masters of Installation Olympic Theatre." Each team will be provided with a mystery pile of building materials that will be unveiled at the opening ceremony of the event. Teams will also be allowed to bring in one suitcase of their own tools and materials to use in the competition. Only raw materials and tools will be allowed in the team suitcases. Judging criteria will include aesthetic value of the final product, entertainment value of performance element and creative use of materials provided. Seating for the event will be minimal. Audience members will be able to walk around during the event to watch the installations in progress.
Tom Sarver, Mike Cuccaro and Liz Hammond will host the event.
Judges for the event will include Heather Pesanti, Assistant Curator at The Carnegie Museum of Art, John Morris, Owner of Digging Pitt Gallery, and Owen Smith, Assistant Curator of the Mattress Factory.
Three teams of diverse backgrounds will be competing in the competition. Team Leader Tavia La Follette (Founder and Executive Director of Artists Upstairs) is an artist, director, set designer, performer and puppeteer. She will be working with Atticus Adams, (sculptor and installation artist) Stephanie Mayer-Staley, (Head of Design, Conservatory of Performing Arts, Point Park University) and Larry Bogad. (Professor of Performance Studies a UC Davis)
Ben Kinsley, M.F.A. candidate at Carnegie Mellon University, will lead a second team. When asked to provide information on his team, Ben responded, "I play people like musical instruments." Ben's teammates include Kazuki Eguchi (who wrestles giant balls of dough) and John Peña (who races clouds).
The third team includes some of Pittsburgh's most prolific multimedia artists led by T. Foley. Her team includes Jesse McLean, Carolyn Lambert and Thad Kellstadt. Installation Olympic Theatre may be the first of a series of art theatre events. Plans are in the works for a series including sculpture, painting and drawing Olympic Theatre events.

Sponsors for the event include Pittsburgh City Paper, Whole Foods, The East End Food Co-op, Construction Junction, Trader Joes, Penn Brewery, Breadworks and Artists and Craftsman' Supply. The Tom Museum is a project of the Mattress Factory, supported by The Creative Heights initiative of The Heinz Endowments.

Contact:

Tom Sarver, Event Organizer & Director of The Tom Museum tomsarver@gmail.com www.tommuseum.com

The Mattress Factory
500 Sampsonia Way
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Phone: 412-322-2231