ART *O* MAT  |  http://www.artomat.org

Founded in 1997, Artists in Cellophane is an arts group that converts retired cigarette machines into Art-o-mat® fine art vending machines.

After finding a banned/abandoned coin-op cigarette vending machine, the original Art*o*mat became one of 13 works by Clark Whittington placed in a coffee shop art show. The concept of this piece was based on a friend's Pavlovian reaction to the crinkle of cellophane snack wrappers. Upon hearing this sound, the person would almost always make a snack run for himself.

After the show was over, the owners of the coffee shop demanded that the machine stay. this original machine remains on site at Mary's of Course Cafe, 301 Brookstown Ave, Winston-Salem, NC. Now, Over 400 artists from 10 countries are presently involved in this project with over 80 machines in operation within the U.S and the U.K.

The mission of A.I.C. is based on the idea of taking art and "repackaging" it to make it part of our daily lives. All well presented art, writings, music and human concept/thought is open for review. Submission guidelines are posted on www.artomat.org.

The original idea for a lunar lander Art-o-mat was sketched out in 1999. When SPACE decided to become a machine host in 2004, this machine design was a perfect fit. Artists Mark Graves, Daniel Vonseggen and C. Whittington collaborated to create our machine.

With the Art-o-mat, SPACE seeks to provide a personal and tangible link between the artists and the public. This links provides a means for the general population to purchase affordable works of art, while the gallery promotes a geographic and media-varied selection of artists. Each piece of art sold costs $5, of which half goes to the artist, with the remainder divided between A.I.C. and the host. By facilitating the ownership of art, Art*O*Mat affects the community positively and further embeds the importance of creativity in our consciousness. Art*O*Mat challenges conventional wisdom by pairing artistry with entrepreneurialism, and affordability with craftsmanship.