There's a PARTY! at Factory Obscura and You're Invited
Photo by Jessi Chapman
Remember the feeling of building a blanket fort in the living room? Staying up late at slumber parties with your friends? You’re invited to relive that experience in a new immersive installation: PARTY!. Created by artists Krista Jo Mustain and Emily Madden in collaboration with Factory Obscura, PARTY! is a cozy, safe landing spot where you can escape the mundane and rest in the joy of nostalgia. Located inside Factory Obscura, the experience is open to the public May 25th - September 29th, 2025 with a special opening night celebration on May 24th from 5-8pm.
Factory Obscura selected the PARTY! project from an open call for artists in late 2024. This is the first time Factory Obscura has opened a call for proposals, creating an opportunity for artists to imagine their work on a larger scale.
“When we put the call out for projects to collaborate on for our summer experience, PARTY! was exactly what we were looking for,” said Tammy Greenman, Director of Strategic Creativity for Factory Obscura. “Joyful, colorful, comforting and community-oriented feels right for this moment in time. Supporting and mentoring Emily and Krista through the process of taking their individual artistic practices and transforming them into a cohesive immersive experience to share with the public is exactly what Factory Obscura wants to be doing right now.”
Since being selected, Mustain and Madden have been busy gathering and altering materials that can create the cozy feel they are looking for: quilts, blankets, pillows, and more. An open call for donations brought in dozens of contributions, including some sentimental objects from people relieved to see them live a new life as art, a giant blanket fort built with the community.
“Once we determined our materials we both set out to source from within our communities, Tulsa for me and OKC for Emily,” said Mustain. “I hit up lots of estate sales and thrift stores, and then started dyeing fabric; meanwhile Emily sourced the most foam I’ve ever seen in my life and began making cushions. We’re thrilled to bring PARTY! to life, and we can’t wait to share it with everyone!"
The creative pair saw the open call from Factory Obscura as an opportunity to finally work on a project together, something they’d been hoping to do for a long time as fellow fiber artists.
“Krista and I have been wanting to collaborate on a project for years but have never really found the right opportunity or time. When we saw that Factory Obscura was looking for artists to fulfill this project we knew we had to apply. As fiber artists we have found that opportunities have been sparse, non-existent, or difficult to find,” said Madden. “The ideas that we bounced around were all over the place at first but we started to hone in on the fact we are fiber artists and equally emotional humans. We decided our love for softness should be showcased. With the world being so sad and having hardships in our personal lives we leaned into the offering of a safe and cozy landing spot for our visitors to experience equally joy and grief. I don't really think you can experience one without the other.”
“Working on this project with Emily has been a dream come true!” said Mustain. “We’ve casually talked about collaborating on a project for years, and it feels so kismet for that to finally come to fruition in PARTY! We are both textile girlies, and have a very similar mindset and approach to our work even though our individual work is fairly different. Because of this, working together has felt incredibly natural and we’ve very easily found a rhythm.”
PARTY! Opening Night
PARTY! opens with a special celebration on Saturday, May 24th from 5-8pm, featuring one-night only interactive additions to the experience. Tickets to the opening night are: $15 General Admission, $10 Kids 4-17, Free for kids 3 & under.
The PARTY! Continues
PARTY! remains open with regular hours and special events from May 25th - September 29th, 2025.
Tickets to PARTY! Are: $12 General Admission, $8 Kids 4-17, Free for kids 3 & under.