{image1}The Art*o*mat makes buying artwork as easy as pie. Or, more appropriately, as easy as a year-old fruit pie in a vending machine. That's because the Art*o*mat is a vending machine -- a refurbished vintage cigarette vending machine to be exact -- that dispenses original art. Just insert a $5 token, pull the knob and presto: You're the proud owner of an art piece that's the size of a pack of smokes.
Murray Hill Pottery Works (2458 N. Murray Ave.) is proud to house Wisconsin's only Art*o*mat. Created by Clark Whittington, an artist from (where else but) Winston-Salem, there are now 50 machines selling the mini-works of more than 300 artists from 10 different countries.
"There's one in Chicago, but this is the first and only Art*o*mat in Wisconsin," says Geralyn Flick, a potter and archeologist who founded Murray Hill in 1997.
Flick read about Art*o*mats in the Chicago Tribune and decided she had to have one, so she contacted Whittington and commissioned him to create one in time for the unveiling of her new storefront last October.
Currently Flick's Art*o*mat is stocked with the work of ten national artists whose automatic art choices include Styrofoam sculptures called "Styrogami," tiny clay turtles, wearable pins made from beer caps and glass and gemstone earrings.
In the future, Flick hopes to fill her 'Mat with the work of local artists and is currently accepting applications, available at the gallery.
"Milwaukee's art scene keeps getting better and better," she says.
Flick receives $1.50 each time a piece of art kerplunks into the grab-and-go tray. $2.50 goes to the artist, and Whittington pockets the remaining buck. Artists won't get rich from participating in this "Artists in Cellophane" project, but it does allow their work, and their name, to receive exposure.
Located in bookstores, coffee shops and galleries around the country, Art*o*mats have already dispensed 10,000 pieces of vending art. Mixing cereal box prize excitement with the anticipation of a scratch-off card -- and so unlike "real" vending machines -- the Art*o*mat delivers something one-of-a-kind every time.
Murray Hill Pottery is open Wednesday-Friday from noon to 6 p.m and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2p.m. Call (414) 332-8828 for more information.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
