> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Getting Your Fix with Art-o-mat
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/art-o-mat/
- Published: 2011-08-23T13:57:28.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:02:39.000Z
- Description: While in Rochester I stopped by the George Eastman House the former home of Kodak film founder George Eastman, and now home to a pretty unique photography museum. The real treasure though, was both unlikely and unexpected. On my I encountered a vintage cigarette machine, cheerily out of time and pla
- Author: Howard Hurst
- Tags: Art, #image-position-hidden, Review, Upstate New York, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-17 09:23 (2009-2011)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/08/art-o-matt3.jpg)

Art-o-mat at the Doylestown Public Library in Doylestown, PA. (all photos by the author)

I spent this past weekend visiting family in upstate New York, a rainy three day stint in Rochester, New York, to be more precise. What I love about traveling is the weird imperative it often distills in people to seek out cultural destinations. On the way to Rochester I stopped at the [Museum of Glass](http://www.cmog.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com) in Corning, New York, which is a pretty spectacular, if oddly located museum.

While in Rochester I stopped by the [George Eastman House](http://www.eastmanhouse.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com) the former home of Kodak film founder George Eastman, and now home to a pretty unique photography museum. The real treasure though, was both unlikely and unexpected. On my I encountered a vintage cigarette machine, cheerily out of time and place. I was delighted to see not tobacco, but art advertised in its tiny little windows.

The machine is one of a fleet of vending machines known as an “ART-O-MAT.” The machines offer for sale a range of original handmade art objects by over 400 contributing artists. They are operated by [Artists In Cellophane](http://www.artomat.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com), an organization started by artist Clark Wittington. Whittington established the first vending machine in 1997 as part of an exhibit of his artwork at the Penny University Coffee House in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The concept took flight when the café owner was so pleased that she asked to keep the vending machine as a permanent fixture. Now there are over 90 *Art-o-mats* throughout the country.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/08/art-o-matt-full-600.jpg)

Art-o-mat at the Doylestown Public Library in Doylestown, PA

I was so intrigued by my experience that I couldn’t help but further investigate. Art-o-mat offers the work of artists from 10 countries, and from areas outside of art centers like San Francisco and New York. On the tail end of my trip I was pleased to pass the Doylestown library in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, home of another of the Art-o-mat’s. Though the program is noteworthy for bringing a diverse range of affordable art to cultural and commercial centers off the beaten path, there are also [two in New York](http://www.artomat.org/locations.php?ref=hyperallergic.com). That is what impresses me about this humble, but relatively ingenious initiative, it’s a reminder that art comes into our lives in so many way … you just have to pay attention.

*To find an* Art-o-mat *near you, visit* [*artomat.org*](http://www.artomat.org/locations.php?ref=hyperallergic.com)*.*