Art vending machines make local art affordable in Philly – Billy Penn at WHYY

Art vending machines make local art affordable in Philly  Billy Penn at WHYY

Fabiola Lara renovates old vending machines into art displays throughout the city – allowing Philadelphians and visitors to get unique prints. Philly-based artist Fabiola Lara started making art vending machines in 2025. Lara discovered the concept from social media, and began to put her own Philly twist on it. “All of the machines have a different combination of mini prints in them,” she said. “Inside of Art Star at the Independence Hall Visitor Center, of course I have a Liberty Bell print there, and over at Reading Terminal Market, I have two prints for Reading Terminal there, so the Reading Terminal sign and then the corner sign.” Last time Billy Penn spoke to Lara, she only had five vending machines in the area.

Now, she has 15. “It’s just been little by little, working with local businesses and even visitor centers to get a mini print vending machine there, so that these little riso prints can be all over the city and create a sort of scavenger hunt,” she said. Lara’s newest creation is an art vending machine passport – allowing Philadelphians and visitors to keep track of which riso prints they’ve collected, and where they want to go next for more. “It’s basically a little booklet that has a QR code for the vending machine map inside of it,”