Mattress Factory Names Mayor of Pittsburgh as New CEO

After five months of searching nationwide, the mattress manufacturer has found its next CEO close to home.

David Oresek, current executive director and principal curator of the Silver Eye Center for Photography, will begin his new role on May 16 at the Museum of Contemporary Installation Art on the North Side of Pittsburgh.

“David has embodied everything we have sought to lead the Museum in his next chapter: a talented, experienced and visionary art leader, who has a strong national and local reputation and has demonstrated excellence with supporting artists and organizational growth,” said Sherry Ducarme, Museum Chair. board.

CEO Hayley Haldeman expects to step down from the mattress factory at the end of May, after a two-week transition period. She is due to be with her second child in June.

A native of Pittsburgh, Oresick said, “The Mattress Factory is a place that has always meant a lot to me and has been a huge part of shaping my love of boundary-pushing contemporary art from an early age. I am excited to lead the museum and its mission of focusing and supporting the artists working on Create something new, bold and experimental.

“My goal is to continue working on the development of the museum community, creating engaging and thoughtful conversations, and inspiring audiences with the history, present and future of installation art,” he added.

Oresick has been Executive Director of Silver Eye since 2014. During his tenure, he developed and executed a strategic master plan and capital campaign to build and move the foundation from its former location on the south side of Pittsburgh to its new location in the Penn Avenue Arts District.

Under Oresick’s leadership, Silver Eye tripled attendance at the program. He has also innovated new programming and revenue streams, led the revitalization of Board Governance and co-created the Silver List, a list of contemporary artists whose work deserves attention, highlighting the diverse voices in photography.

At Silver Eye, Oresick has curated more than 20 exhibition galleries, with a focus on supporting emerging and mid-career artists.

“He is a proven leader in the arts and a skilled visionary, with a strong drive to support our artists and our work,” Haldeman said. “He’s the perfect person to lead the mattress factory through the next chapter, especially with the museum out of COVID-19.”

Oresick is a co-founder of The Visual Arts Coalition for Equity, a group of arts organizations that have worked collectively to create a paid internship program that helps aspiring arts leaders create fair and sustainable practices within their communities.

He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University in Chicago and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rochester Institute of Technology. He is an adjunct instructor at Carnegie Mellon University.

Prior to his role on Silver Eye, Oresick was Director of Light Work at Syracuse University, where he oversaw the Artist-in-Residence program, and was a Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago.

“In my career, my passion has always been to help artists create new artwork and share that artwork in meaningful and engaging ways,” Oresick said.

Shirley McMarlin is a writer for the Tribune Review. You can contact Shirley at 5750-836-724, smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .