If you’ve passed through Grand Central during the recent holiday season, you definitely saw a small vending machine with a line wrapping through the station. However, even if you didn’t venture into Grand Central, you probably heard about this tiny pop-up art sale.
Anastasia Inciardi is a printmaking artist who specializes in small depictions of real-life scenes and objects, such as food items and iconic locations. Her most recent venture is in her highly innovative Mini Print Vending Machines, which she has located all over the country. Despite her Grand Central machine blowing up on social media, very few know that there are actually seven more machines throughout New York City alone.
For those looking to venture into Brooklyn, Inciardi has five machines placed in various small businesses just across the East River. Haricot Vert’s Dreamworld, a jewelry store located in Williamsburg, has a machine placed just outside. The print options currently available are a pink cowboy boot, an eight ball, cheese, a teacup, a chili pepper, an olive, a packet of sugar and a pair of lips. While all of the prints are adorable and make the journey worth it on their own, visitors can also step inside Haricot Vert and personalize their jewelry using a charm bar or participate in one of the store’s craft workshops.
Located just a few blocks north of Haricot Vert is the Brooklyn Brewery. The print options at this location are a taxi cab, an everything bagel, two types of beer vessels (bottle and can), a pickle jar, the cutest pair of hops and wheat, a bottle cap and a depiction of the in-house brewery. For those above the age of 21, this location also offers a place to sit back and relax with a cold beer.
If you’re a fan of reading, one of the vending machines is placed just inside of a family-owned independent bookstore, Books Are Magic, on Montague Street. Previously, the prints available were less book-themed, but Inciardi recently restocked with new arrivals. There are still a few generic prints, such as the strawberry, hotdog, goldfish, ice cream cone, watermelon slice, jam, cake and blueberries, but the machine now offers a print with the covers of “Goodnight Moon” and “Lunch Poems” by Frank O’Hara as well as a realistic depiction of the outside of the bookstore. When asked about the popularity of the machine, bookseller Sarah Abott shared that, “Definitely a huge amount of people come in just for the machine… I spoke to a woman who has been to them in multiple states and collects them.”
Farther east into Brooklyn is Foster Sundry, a small deli on Knickerbocker Avenue. This location has prints of a pickle jar, Topo Chico mineral water, a tin of sardines, a sunny side up egg, tomatoes on a vine and a block of cheese, which can be bought in consuming form here as well. Aside from cheese, visitors can also get a variety of meats and grocery items, making it a practical stop as well as a fun one.
Just a few stops down from the bookstore on the R train is Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store, a boutique selling items ranging from houseware to Jellycats. Similar to the bookstore, there have been new arrivals to this vending machine as well, only these ones are Valentine’s Day themed. The prints offered here include a goldfish, an ice cream sandwich, a stick of butter, a tuxedo cat, a taco, a martini, a bird, a bouquet of tulips, a can and now a heart-shaped cake as well as a compilation of conversation hearts. This store is great not only for its vast selection of prints, but also for the variety of cute, functional items. Erica, an employee at Annie’s, noted that, “Sometimes we do get every now and then people just go straight back there… there’s a line now I didn’t notice during the holiday season.” If you are a fan of Valentine’s Day or little trinkets, this might be the print stop for you.
While most of the vending machines in New York are located in Brooklyn, there are two in Manhattan for those unwilling to make the trek. The first is in Warby Parker’s SoHo location and has the smallest variation of prints. The ones available at this eyewear store are a dog wearing glasses, a Blue-footed Booby, a classic New York street food stand and a book with the writing, “All of my glasses are reading glasses.”
The final mini print vending machine location is just inside the giftshop of The Whitney Museum of American Art. The museum, founded in 1930, is dedicated to “taking a bold stand for American artists who were often overlooked,” as per their website. The prints available are a cup of coffee, a slice of pizza, a black and white cookie, a bagel with lox, a bookshelf with a cat, a Central Park bench, a subway car, another street food stand, the High Line and a blue apartment, complete with a fire escape. This location may just be the best of them, as it not only has all of those prints but also has an entire second vending machine. The second machine has a variety of ice cream truck products, as well as other various street food items. While you visit The Whitney, make sure to learn about and see the various art exhibits. Admission is free to everyone from 5 – 10 p.m. every Friday!
These may be all of the machines in New York City (for now), but there are various machines placed throughout the country. Be sure to check out @inciardimachines on Instagram for an updated list! If you aren’t able to visit any in person, prints are also available to purchase at inciardiprints.com as well.
