Once upon a time, some enterprising artists decided to repurpose old cigarette vending machines to create art vending machines, and thus the art-o-mat was born. As badly as I wanted to visit one of these novelties, I knew I’d never get around to it until I added it to my list of 101 Things in 1001 Days. After a couple of failed attempts to find the DC machine (long story), I made a pilgrimage to Cumberland, Maryland, to visit the Saville Gallery. It was easy to find and fun to do. You purchase a token for $5.00, then use the token to make your purchase. The hardest part was deciding which to get! I ended up with a lovely pin by Freaks, Geeks & Beauties, but then had to do it again and ended up with an adorable Patron Saint for Modern Times created by Mike Goodwin. (I got Saint Hoopty, the patron saint for good parking.)
Later I finally (finally!) made it to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and once again purchased two pieces. The first was a rather puzzling, er, object by Scarab Art, then an itty bitty watercolor painting by Trish Randall.
It’s probably good there aren’t any super close to me, because I evidently have no willpower whatsoever when it comes to these things. MUST BUY ART!
Have you ever visited an artomat machine? Maybe there’s one near you!