PITTSBURGH.- Have you ever walked past a questionable piece of street art or visited a contemporary art gallery where you were unsure if something was part of the exhibition? As of this week, iPhone users can visit the Apple App Store and download a FREE application that will help them make sense of their artistic surroundings.

The Mattress Factory, a museum of contemporary installation art, and Deeplocal, a design and innovation studio, both based in Pittsburgh, have partnered to develop the “Is This Art?” iPhone application. Using the iPhone’s camera, users snap a picture of something they think might be art and the application instantly delivers the results. Users can also upload their images and results to a website, http://isthisart.org, where anyone can comment, react and share the images on social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

“As a museum of contemporary installation art that exhibits mostly new site-specific works, the Mattress Factory has earned a reputation for pushing artistic boundaries by allowing the artists we work with to explore complete artistic freedom. And with that comes artworks that provoke thought and raise questions,” says Jeffrey Inscho, Director of Media and Public Relations for the Mattress Factory. “Our hope with this application and website is that they help get people talking about art – what art is, what art can be, where art can be found, how art influences people and why art is important.”

Also lending a hand to the project was New York-based art and culture writer Carolina Miranda, who blogs at http://c-monster.net. Miranda, along with art conservator Rosa Lowinger, wrote the one-liner-style responses that users receive after submitting a photo.

Point. Click. Art? The “Is This Art?” iPhone application can be downloaded via iTunes or by clicking the download link on http://isthisart.org.