Mattress Factory Names Anthony Elms, Onetime Whitney Biennial Curator, as Artistic Director

The Mattress Factory, a contemporary art museum and residency program in Pittsburgh, has named Anthony Elms as its artistic director, beginning next February. At the Mattress Factory, Elms will oversee the institution’s entire artistic programming, from its exhibitions and commissions to its residency program to public engagement and interpretative strategies.

His appointment, after a national search, comes as the museum prepares for its 50th anniversary in 2027. “Anthony is the perfect fit for this moment at the Mattress Factory,” David Oresick, the museum’s executive director, said in a statement. “His artist-first approach, his deep experience across the art world, and his history of producing exhibitions that resonate widely while remaining deeply attentive to the artists’ visions make him an exceptional addition to our team.

We are thrilled to welcome him and excited for the new energy, care, and creative ambition he will bring to our program.” Elms has a proven track record in both the institutional and commercial sectors of the art world. Shortly after joining the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia in 2011 as an associate curator, Elms was named a cocurator of the 2014 Whitney Biennial, the last iteration of the recurring exhibition in its former home, the Breuer Building.

He organized that exhibition with artist Michelle Grabner and Stuart Comer, chief curator of media and performance art at the Museum of Modern Art. Each curator took over a floor of the Whitney, with Art in America describing Elms’s floor as “trump[ing] the other two curators with his poetic use of empty space.” Elms worked at the ICA Philadelphia until 2021, being promoted to its chief curator in 2015.

At the ICA, he organized exhibitions Karyn Olivier, Cauleen Smith, Rodney McMillian, and Christopher Knowles, among others. After leaving the ICA, he joined the New York–based gallery Peter Freeman, Inc., as a director in 2022, where he was equally responsible for mounting exhibitions and making private sales.

At the time, he was part of a growing trend of museum curators joining commercial galleries. “It was this particular gallery,” he told ARTnews at the tie. “I’ve always had a love of artists from Eastern Europe, so that material interested me.” Elms departed Peter Freeman last year and has continued to work as an independent curator.

He recently organized a solo exhibition for McMillian at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, which is on view through next May. “Mattress Factory’s commitment to supporting artists is the heart of its history and mission,” Elms said in a statement. “Artists challenge our definitions of art, determining its purpose, its possibilities, its values. For nearly fifty years, the Mattress Factory has given artists the space and support to explore those questions on their own terms.

I am honored by the invitation to share in this challenging work with Pittsburgh and beyond.”