Outsider art (or Art Brut) usually refers to art made by the insane or even simply the untrained; in some cases it is now highly valuable, if your name is Henry Darger, Adolf Wölfli or Thornton Dial.

Here’s your chance to make some of your own outsider art, regardless of your talent, for a new project called “Outsider Art in a Box – Artwork in Vending Machines.”

Created by mixed media artist Rhonda Simmons, the first Vancouver vending machine is at Main Street’s Ruby Dog’s Art House, while one more is in the works for The Petri Dish and one was at the World Urban Fair at the Great Northern Way Emily Carr campus. The refurbished feminine hygiene vending machine pops out objets d’art at $4 per piece: $2 goes to the artist, $1 to the hosting venue and $1for vending machine upkeep and keeping the project going.

The Outsider Art in a Box blog traces back the idea of art in a vending machine:

She was inspired by Toronto’s Vendart project, where artists wheel around a pink fridge and encourage people to take pieces free of charge, and Montreal’s Distroboto project, which sells art for $2 from cigarette machines. American artist Clark Whittington likely originated the vending machine art movement with his Art-o-mat machine, Simmons noted. Started in 1997, Art-o-mat operates 82 machines throughout the U.S. Simmons said the Outsider Art moniker makes fun of the idea that everyone needs to think outside of the box. It also references the outsider art movement of artists who are primarily self-taught.

The all-ages workshops take place starting next week on July 20, 23, 27 and 30 from 6 to 8 pm. In three hours, you can make as many pieces as you can with the supplies provided. Anything goes: jewellery, badges, found objects, ‘zines, comics, tapes, DVDs, CDs, paintings, collage, sculptures, toys, flipbooks, textiles, etc. The $15 fee for the workshop covers the submission fee.

Book and pay ahead at The Petri Dish
2406 Main Street
Vancouver, BC
V5T 3E2
(604) 876-3060

The Petri Dish, by the way, has button-making workshops on Wednesday nights (as luck would have it, on my only evening work night), book trading nights and collage parties. Just go to the main page of the Petri Dish and sign up for the mailing list.