Art-O-Mat Opening December 17, 2009

Bad habits may be hard to break but artist Clark Whittington of Winston-Salem, NC, has found a creative way to take old cigarette machines from days gone by and turn them into art dispensing novelties. Just in time for a great $5 stocking-stuffer idea, City Arts Center will soon be home to the only Art-O-Mat machine in Oklahoma that is accessible to the public.

The official unveiling of the Art-O-Mat will be Thursday, December 17 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at City Arts Center in the Eleanor Kirkpatrick Gallery, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., OKC. At 6 p.m., Whittington will give an artist’s talk to those interested in learning more about his machine-dispensing art and to local artists who would like to be part of his project here in Oklahoma City. Guest will also be able to purchase a $5 token, pull a lever and go home with what will be one of the most “buzz worthy” stocking stuffer ideas of this year’s holiday season.

Whittington created the first Art-O-Mat in 1997 as part of an art exhibit. He repurposed the old cigarette machine and created cigarette pack-size art, wrapped it in cellophane, sold tokens and from there the rest is history. Artists in Cellophane, the sponsoring organization of Art-O-Mat, is based on the concept of taking art and “repackaging” it to make it part of our daily lives and to encourage art consumption. Learn more about the Art-O-Mat at www.artomat.org.