Feb22

art-o-mat.

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The Art-o-mat in Milwaukee is an art installation and interactive exhibit that used to be a retro cigarette vending machine, but now it’s an art dispenser. For just $5, people can get a print, painting, jewelry, statue, and so much more.

“It is so much more than a vending machine. It’s an art experience, but it’s also an art object in and of itself,” Samantha Timm, the curator at Saint Kate The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, said.

Since Saint Kate opened in 2019, the Art-o-mat has been a huge hit.

The first Art-o-mat was built by Clark Whittington in 1997. He refurbished an old cigarette vending machine after it became more or less illegal. He displayed it at an art exhibition, and it became a huge hit. Now, he leases them out to galleries, libraries, and hotels.

It’s not cheap to have one. It can cost $5,000 per year. Plus, it costs $2.50 plus shipping to stock the machine. However, it’s not about making a ton of money. These exhibits are designed to be a fun way to interact with art and the past. Furthermore, it makes art collecting accessible for buyers. All the art inside the machines is made by different artists from around the world.

Art-o-Mat

“It’s so unique. It’s so different. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Kami Strunsee, an artist and owner of Timber Lane Studio and Gallery in Wales said.

Strunsee also has an Art-o-mat in her gallery. She estimates more than 500 pieces of cigarette box-sized art has been purchased since she opened in April 2022. Strunsee also discovered that there is an entire community of people who collect pieces of art from these vending machines.

“I have several people from California come in. They came to Wisconsin, and they just drove east, and were trying to hit as many Art-o-mats as they could,” she said.

Strunsee has even hosted Art-o-mat nights. People come in with their friends, buy a few pieces of art, and then sit around a table looking at each other’s collectibles and making trades with each other just like one would with basketball or Pokemon cards. “It’s kind of random as to what you get but it’s always something really unique,” she said.

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“i do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.”
-william morris

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72 responses »

  3. Oh what a gr8 way of distributing art affordable to everybody and what fun to own some of these works! And what a super way of re-using these machines. I‘d so much like to participate in this scheme.

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. We all can’t afford to have a 16th century original hanging in our drawing room, but this seems promising. Maybe get a print to fold and carry around in one’s billfold. Like sharing a picture of your kids.
    I took an art history course in college. Hardest course I ever had and would have failed except for help from my roommate. But the course I most remember!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  35. Pingback: For All | Kevin Barrett's Blog

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