Anthony Elms + Hamza Walker in Conversation

As Mattress Factory approaches 50 years of saying “yes” to artists, two leading curators reflect on what artist-centered institutions mean now.

Join us for an evening of conversation with Hamza Walker and Anthony Elms on the future of the artist-centered institution.

For nearly 50 years, Mattress Factory has remained resolutely artist-centered, supporting artists with the time, space, and freedom to experiment, take risks, and create work that could not happen anywhere else. As we welcome Anthony Elms as Mattress Factory’s new Artistic Director, this conversation looks ahead: in a moment of profound social, cultural, and institutional change, what does it mean to center artists now?

Anthony Elms brings to Mattress Factory a career defined by deep engagement with artists and a commitment to ambitious contemporary practice. Before joining Mattress Factory, he served as Chief Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, where he developed exhibitions that brought together visual art, performance, music, literature, archives, and experimentation. His curatorial work includes exhibitions such as Cauleen Smith: Give It or Leave It, Endless Shout, and Rodney McMillian: The Black Show, and he co-curated the 2014 Whitney Biennial.

Joining him is Hamza Walker, one of the most influential voices in contemporary art. Walker currently leads The Brick in Los Angeles, where the exhibition MONUMENTS (co-organized and co-presented by MOCA) reflects on the histories and legacies of post-Civil War America as they continue to resonate today, bringing together a selection of decommissioned monuments, many of which are Confederate, with contemporary artworks borrowed and newly created for the occasion.

Together, Walker and Elms will reflect on their own histories of working with artists while exploring a larger question that feels especially resonant at Mattress Factory: where does the artist-centered institution go from here?

Location: 500 Sampsonia
Limited tickets available.
Doors at 6:30 PM, program begins at 7 PM.