End Notes
Out with Cigarettes, In with Art
Whatever became of all those cigarette vending machines that once stood in hallways and lobbies? Some are now dispensing works of art.
The University of Minnesota’s Boynton Health Service is home to one of the more than 80 Art-o-mat vending machines that sell small packs of art. Located next to the elevator in the entrance to the student health clinic, the glittery purple machine dispenses original works costing $5 a pop. The machine contains books, jewelry, sculptures, and paintings including some by Bonita Hill, M.D., a family physician at Lakeview Clinic in Chaska.
The idea for Art-o-mats came from North Carolina artist Clark Whittington, who was inspired by a friend’s Pavlovian response to the sound of crinkling cellophane—When the friend heard someone open a packaged snack, he got the urge to have one, too. Whittington hoped he could get people to respond the same way to the sound of art being unwrapped. In 1997, he installed his first Art-o-mat in a Winston-Salem café and sold his black-and-white photographs for $1 a piece. Today, Art-o-mats are dispensing the works of more than 400 artists from 10 countries.
Gary Christenson, M.D., director of mental health at Boynton and an advocate for incorporating the arts in health care, says the clinic’s administration thought it would be a good fit “because we have a strong antismoking campaign here. We’re trying to make this a smoke-free campus, and we have a very strong art effort in the building. This is the perfect combination.” Some of the profits from sales go to Boynton’s efforts to help students quit smoking.
During its first three weeks at Boynton, the Art-o-mat sold about 100 pieces, Christenson says. It’s also created a lot of talk among those who walk past it. “We’ve witnessed people taking pictures of themselves next to it and posting them on the Internet and Twittering others to come on over and see it,” he says. MM
Kim Kiser is associate editor of Minnesota Medicine.