Tickets
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Factory 500: The Butler Institute of American Art
A Tour with Anastasia James
Join Mattress Factory for a trip to Youngstown, Ohio, and an exclusive tour of The Butler Institute of American Art led by Executive Director Anastasia James.
James recently moved to Youngstown to take the helm of The Butler. Before the move, she called Pittsburgh home and was a prominent member of the city’s arts community. She previously served as Director of Galleries & Public Art at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and is a longtime friend of Mattress Factory.
We’re excited to visit James in her new role, experience The Butler through her perspective, and explore the connections between our two institutions. While the Butler’s collection is perhaps best known for Winslow Homer’s Snap the Whip, the museum also has a strong focus on new media and works generated by mechanical motors and computers.
Mattress Factory and The Butler have a connection as culture creators in Rust Belt cities. We share an overlapping network of artists, supporters, and friends.
There is another, often-overlooked connection between our organizations.
Mattress Factory Connection: Dr. Richard Murray
Youngstown surgeon Dr. Richard Murray was a pioneer in gender-affirming surgery during the 1970s. When Greer Lankton underwent surgery as part of her transition in 1978, it took place in Youngstown, and it was Murray who performed the operation.
Murray was also an artist. His work is held in The Butler’s collection, and James will share it with us during our visit.
Joining our visit to offer additional expertise is Ginger Williams, a researcher, public speaker, and former board member of TransOhio. Williams is the foremost expert on Murray’s life and legacy. Through her research and advocacy, she has worked to reconstruct, document, and bring greater attention to his contributions to regional, medical, and transgender history.
Tour Details
1:00 AM-1:30 PM
The Butler Institute of American Art
524 Wick Avenue
Youngstown, Ohio 44502
The Butler Institute of American Art is located in the heart of Youngstown’s Cultural District, approximately a one-hour drive from Mattress Factory.
If you would like to carpool with Mattress Factory staff, please contact members@mattress.org or 412-313-5410.
Free visitor parking is available in a lot directly beside the museum. Please plan to arrive 5-10 minutes early. We’ll gather in the lobby.
Have lunch with us and keep the conversation going.
After the tour, join us for an optional, self-pay lunch at Looma Café, located inside the Butler Institute.
Anastasia James is Executive Director of The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, and an internationally recognized curator specializing in 20th- and 21st-century American art, with particular expertise in Andy Warhol, contemporary art, and arts education history. Previously, James held leadership roles at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Bechtler Museum, and the Lucas Museum of Art (as founding Curator), and curatorial positions at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, Queens Museum, and the Andy Warhol Museum. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Artforum, ARTnews, Vogue, and The New Yorker, among others. She holds an MA in Curatorial Studies from CCS Bard.
Ginger Williams is a prominent Cleveland-based researcher, public speaker, and former board member of TransOhio (2016-2025). She also volunteers with a variety of LGBTQ+ social, advocacy, and equality organizations throughout Ohio. Williams is recognized as the foremost expert on the life and legacy of Dr. Richard Murray. She spent years uncovering Murray’s history as a highly accomplished, multi-faceted Youngstown plastic surgeon who quietly emerged as a groundbreaking national pioneer in gender-affirming surgeries during the 1970s. Through meticulous research, she cross-referenced library archives, local historical society collections, and medical records to reconstruct his overlooked contributions to both regional medical history and transgender history.
The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, was founded in 1919 as the first museum in the United States dedicated exclusively to American art. Its permanent collection includes more than 22,000 works spanning five centuries of American artistic achievement. The Butler serves as both a regional cultural anchor and an internationally recognized center for the study and exhibition of American art. For more information, visit butlerart.com