Agata Oleksiak, a Polish fiber artist, was arrested Wednesday evening at the Mattress Factory after refusing to leave the contemporary art museum on the North Side.
Ms. Oleksiak, 41, who goes by the name Olek, came to Pittsburgh last month to be an artist in residence at the museum, but Mattress Factory leaders revoked her invitation after a Feb 2 altercation with a guest at a private party in the museum’s lobby. Hayley Haldeman, the museum’s interim director, gave Ms. Oleksiak a letter stating that she was not to return to the museum.
On Wednesday evening, Ms. Oleksiak set a blanket down in the building’s vestibule and laid out her artwork, which consisted of crocheted penises, according to museum spokeswoman Mandy Wilson.
The artist offered to sell the fiber artwork to patrons arriving for a program featuring the work of artist Nathan Hall, a composer and musician who focuses on intimacy and kink.
Ms. Haldeman asked Ms. Oleksiak to leave but the artist refused so she called police. Police tried to persuade her to leave but she refused, Ms. Wilson said.
Ms. Oleksiak was arrested, handcuffed and charged with defiant trespass, a misdemeanor. She spent the night in the Allegheny County Jail and has a court hearing scheduled for Feb. 19.
Marylynne Pitz: mpitz@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1648 or on Twitter:@mpitzpg
First Published: February 13, 2020, 10:53 p.m.
