FLINT, MI — There is a working cigarette machine at Soggy Bottom Bar, but what’s inside isn’t what you’d expect.

It’s contents are open to interpretation and meant to inspire be enjoyed.

No, it does not dispense cigarettes. It dispenses art.

And not just any art, but works by local Flint artists — a mini Flint art market now known and branded as the MarTket.

Jewel Brown, 26 of Flint, said she first had the idea while working at Factory Two when a larger vending machine came through that needed repairs.

Brown, a 2017 Flint Kearsley graduate who grew up on the city’s east side, knew she wanted to make something unique and to give a voice to artists from the start.

But now, she needed to buy an old cigarette vending machine. The one that came in was too expensive for her pocketbook.

So, she did what anyone would — she turned to Facebook Marketplace in hopes of finding a cheaper one. And in August 2024, she found one for sale in Metcalf, Illinois.

“It was a teeny, tiny town in southern Illinois,” Brown said. “The lady who sold it to me was so sweet. She had been running the bar she just bought two years ago. She had still been selling cigarettes out of it, and just decided she didn’t want to deal with the hassle anymore.”

Brown borrowed a truck from friends Jeff and Mary Mintline, even having help from Will Mintline, who drove with her to provide some extra muscle to retrieve the new dispensary device.

Brown said she was fortunate the machine was in good condition with fully working slots. Though, she admitted, it needed a deep clean, calling it “pretty, pretty grody.”

“I knew the idea right from the get — I knew it was going to be local artists. That was my intention the whole time,” Brown said. “My goal is to make Flint artists’ art more accessible for people. Not only in Flint, but people who are visiting Flint.”

That’s why Brown said it was crucial to have a home for the MarTket machine in Soggy Bottom Bar in downtown Flint — one of the city’s most popular bars.

Brown and Soggy Bottom’s regulars even threw a party for its grand reveal in March.

“The place was packed,” Brown said, noting she invited all the participating artists. “And a few artists sold out completely, which was awesome.”

The art vending machine holds up to 22 artists’ work at a time, and, Brown said happily, she has not had to turn a single artist away.

Inside the vending machine, you’ll find art in the style of poetry, zines, photographs, stained glass, leather, prints, collages and paintings.

“I really wanted to make sure there was a lot of options — something that everyone would enjoy,” Brown said. “I think Flint has a really rich art scene, but accessibility to it is not always there. So, a lot of times when we think about Flint art, the first things that are going to come to mind are the FIA and Buckham Gallery. And for a lot of these artists and a lot of people, these things are not super easily accessible.

“I think Flint does a great job of combating that with things like Art Walks where it’s a much more casual way to get involved in the arts community, giving an opportunity to see what the Flint arts community has to offer. But really the goal with it is to keep it affordable for people.”

Everything in the MarTket vending machine is $5, and artists get 60% of each purchase. Brown said it was important to her to ensure artists are compensated fairly as well.

The remainder of the money goes into packing materials and repairs to sustain the machine.

But Brown’s ambitions for the project don’t stop there. She aims to have two more by the end of the year, but in a different style and at other locations.

She plans to do the same with a full-size snack vending machine and a sticker vending machine as well.

The MarTket is stationed in the secondary room to the right after you enter Soggy Bottom Bar, located at 613 Martin Luther King Ave. in Flint.

You can follow the MarTket on Facebook and Instagram.

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