Vending machines dispensing local art in Red Deer

Art in Your Pocket project by Society for Creative Arts Center

Vending machines dispensing local art in Red Deer Published 4:05 pm Wednesday, July 15, 2026 Four vending machines around Red Deer are dispensing art prints the size of sports cards to introduce the public to talented local artists, and give people an affordable way to start their own mini art collection. The Art in Your Pocket project, by the Society for Creative Arts Center, has set up art vending machines at the Sports Hall of Fame, Kerry Wood Nature Centre, Fort Normandeau and Troubled Monk. Another machine will be soon be located at Cronquist House, and efforts are underway to add one more machine elsewhere.

Each tabletop machine sells six different $2 prints to encourage people to visit each machine to add to their collection and visit the different areas in the city where the machines can be found. Society chair Andrea Tucker-Hatch said the machines dispense the prints randomly so buyers will be surprised at what pops out. “The vending machines are quirky,” said Tucker-Hatch, adding it’s an interactive way for people to dip their toes into Red Deer’s art scene.

She said the project received more than 100 submissions from central Alberta artists, and 36 prints were chosen by a group of six judges. The hope is to add three-dimensional art to the machines if the project is a success. She said art vending machines have been used in big cities and the not-for-profit Society for Creative Arts Center, established this year, wants to try new ways to bridge younger generations in the city with art.

“The reality of it is Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are aging, and people need to be accessing art, and understanding art, and using art in their everyday lives. This is one of those ways,” Tucker-Hatch said about the vending machines. But she added that the project is not just about art.

It’s also a way to get people looking around them at what’s happening in Red Deer. “A lot of times we forget the great spaces, and the great places, that we have in the city.” Art in Your Pocket was funded through a City of Red Deer grant.

Participating artists received an honorarium, and most of funds raised will go back to the artists through a commission from prints sold.