Clark Whittington, artist from Winston Salem, S.C., recently installed an Art-o-mat in the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art.
Art-o-mats are vintage cigarette machines that have been transformed into venders of handmade art.
For $5, one can purchase a token at the museum's gift shop to place in the Art-o-mat and choose a small piece of art.
Marilyn Laufer, director of Jule Collins Smith Museum, got in touch with Whittington about purchasing an Art-o-mat.
"For me, I love, even more than a cool machine that is all decked out, that he makes a very bold and very strong statement that art can be affordable," Laufer said. "Each one of those are handmade by an artist and for five dollars you will be able to have a real piece of art, and making it not only accessible because of the price range, but making it easily attainable as a vending machine."
Whittington invites all artists interested in submitting art to be sold in the Art-o-mats to contact him through his webpage.
All works of art are no bigger than a cigarette package and are wrapped in cellophane.
The art ranges from little objects to drawings to jewelry and more.
Laufer anticipates the Art-o-mat will have a longer situation than just the next exhibition in the museum.
"I don't know if it's a draw in and of itself," Laufner said. "Maybe in the first couple of months and weeks it'll be a curiosity kind of thing. I think eventually it'll be something that when you come to the museum you're going to say, 'What is that? Oh that's totally cool. I want one,' and participate."
Christine Meir, shop manager at Jule Collins Smith Museum, will be accessible to purchase tokens from for the machine.
"I think it's fantastic," Meir said. "I think it will be a lot of fun, and it will bring a lot of different art to a lot of people who might not ordinarily be able to purchase it."
According to Laufner, Whittington's Art-o-mats address a very wide and diverse.
"I think he is trying to make people aware that art is accessible and that you can easily own a real work of art," Laufner said. "I think that making them accessible through this kind of interaction eliminates a lot of the intimidation."
The machine will be up and running after Whittington gives a lecture at the museum, at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 10.
Cynthia Kristan-Graham, professor in art history, said she heard about the Art-o-mat and is curious to learn more about it.
"It seems like a unique opportunity to talk about commercialism and contemporary art and we are the first one in Alabama that's going to have it," Kristan-Graham said.
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