Making Art Accessible To Everyone: 20 Years Of Art-o-mat

Debbie Page Harris sits behind a table at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. She's there with dozens of other artists, sharing and trading her abstract paintings - it's called a Swap Meet. 

This isn't your typical art show though. All of the pieces are tiny, no bigger than 2x3 inches. Harris points to a bag below the table, bursting with art. She's been busy. "I've been trading like crazy. Probably close to 60."

The artists here are united by these tiny works and the thing that dispenses them - a refurbished cigarette machine. Remember the old ones with the knobs you'd pull out to select your brand? Well, instead of a pack of Lucky Strikes or Winstons, these machines dispense one-of-a-kind original works by printmakers, painters, jewelry-makers and more. All for $5. It's called Art-o-mat.

The genius behind all of this is Clark Whittington. You can recognize him by his signature Whoopee cap - you know, the one that Jughead wore in the Archie comics.

He's often tinkering in his basement/garage. In the 20 years he's worked on it, Whittington's project has grown from one Art-o-mat to over 100. And nowadays he and his studio manager Katelin Walsh work with around 400 artists (from 10 countries) to stock them. Whittington says the project began with a craving.

“A friend of mine had a Pavlovian reaction to snack wrappers," he says. "And when he'd hear the crinkle of cellophane, before you know it, he was buying something for himself.” So, Whittington decided to put art in a vending machine – specifically a cigarette machine. They were easy to get a hold of because they were being banned in the 1990s and people were getting rid of them anyway. Whittington adapts and transforms the machines. Some have shiny chrome and bright sparkle finishes. On others he's carefully preserved original details. Each has a unique character.

While Whittington works in his garage, Sherry Paylor drops by to deliver a new batch of art. She's a painter who's been contributing to Art-o-mat for the last 5 years. But there's another layer to her story. “My dad was a wholesale tobacconist," she says. "So we would go around to country stores and refill cigarette machines with cigarettes. I kind of liked the machines as they were, and then when I saw them just become these gorgeous pieces of art themselves, I was really drawn to it.”

Paylor says she hears from people around the country who get her work from an Art-o-mat, and these days buyers will tag the artists on social media.

Whittington's proud that he's made the experience of owning art accessible. “We've sold art to people who have never bought art before, and they're really getting into it.”

Today you can find Art-o-mats across the country and around the world with machines in Europe and Australia. But the original machine remains in Winston-Salem, where it all began. Mary Haglund inherited it when she bought her downtown restaurant. “I'm from the Midwest, and I really thought that art was in Europe and painted by dead people in museums. I didn't know that artists walked amongst us. So I was introduced to this whole new world.” Haglund says it's because of Whittington that she got involved in the arts community.

Back at the Swap Meet, arts entrepreneur Myka Burke is about to buy some art from an Art-o-mat. She decides on a printmaker named John Gall, but still doesn't know which piece will drop. “You know you're getting something beautiful, original art, so it's a win/win,” she says. “It's just one of those feelings - it's that enjoyment and discovery.” Burke makes her selection. The machine makes a loud "kerplunk" as her art drops to the bottom. And that, is a satisfying sound.

The "20 Years of Art-o-mat" retrospective show is on display at SECCA through August 27th.