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Fanfare: Mattress Factory toasts 40th anniversary with Urban Garden Party

Kate Benz
| Monday, June 19, 2017 1:00 a.m.
John Altdorfer
Beauty Slap performed during the Mattress Factory Urban Garden Party, Northside. June 16, 2017.
The Urban Garden Party at the Mattress Factory on the Northside, Pittsburgh, was held on Friday, June 16, 2017.

Graced with body paint, that which God had blessed him with, and not much of anything else, it was the model known as “Smokin' McQueen” that became the conversation starter no one could stop talking about during the Mattress Factory's Urban Garden Party, having inspired so many photo opportunities that they caused a bottleneck at the door.

“Where else in Pittsburgh could you pull that off?” asked Ali Good.

Apparently nowhere, although McQueen and his equally un-outfitted sidekick “Danger Doll” took the whiplash they were causing in stride, their perch becoming a gathering place while begging the question, “What's the first thing that ran through your mind when you saw them?”

“This party's gonna be great,” said Laura Berges.

“We're in the right place,” added her husband, Mario.

Selling out with 1,400 guests topping the list, VIPs floated in early for a leisurely pre-game to nosh on the talents of Bob Sendall of All In Good Taste Productions and raise a glass to toast the museum's 40th. Its 1977 debut had inspired the dress code, which brought out the vintage Halston, tube socks, and afros.

Once the party swelled with general ticket holders, it spilled outdoors into a tented area where LUXE Creative unleashed its signature sensory experience and Creative Resident DJ Samuel Andres was waiting.

“You throw in some corporates, artists, neighbors and a couple of drag queens and how can you not have a good time?” laughed co-director Michael Olijnyk.

On the list: founder Barbara Luderowski, party chair Eric Werner, Dr. Michael White, Dr. Lisa Cibik and Bernie Kobosky, Steve and Andi Irwin, Chris and Maria Carson, Chuck and Kristen Hammel, Bill and Janet Hunt, Jack and Ellen Kessler, Hans Peter Kuhn, Sean and Amy Sebastian, Martin Potoczny, Anne Stone, Cindy Gerber.

The event raised $200K.


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