Hello! We are doing an art show (February 7-April 3) at the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center focused on claw machines. Most of our machines are art pieces, from a rock garden that you rake, to a machine that prints the dreams of a possessed teddy bear but we are also working on one traditional claw machine that will act as a contrast to these more artistic pieces.
However, rather than filling the machine with AliExpress sourced stuffed animals, we wanted to focus on local art, games art, and stuff made from folks in the community that we’d love to highlight. All of our projects are collaborative, and this machine is a good chance to really highlight work from talented artists. If you’re interested in donating things, please feel free to contact Amanda at amanda@/supersoul.co (without the slash) or contact us on social media to arrange a drop off/pick up.
The claw machine that we’re using is a medium plush claw machine, so about what you’d see at a Denny’s or Steak and Shake (the machines we’re using here appear to have come from several Pennsylvania based Steak and Shakes). For scale references for what will work in a machine the easiest way to communicate these differences is through comparison – a small machine is something like a Grab-a-Duck which will puck up rubber duckies or candy, while a larger machine is something like this one, which provides 2-3 foot tall plushes or giant balls. Our machine is somewhat smaller and would be classified as “medium.” Best estimates as these things go are that anything probably larger than about 16 inches is likely to be too large, and anything below 6 inches will need to be inside something else (either box or capsule, more explained below).
We have a capsule option where smaller items can be placed inside of a capsule to be picked up by a claw, in this case we would provide the capsule (6 inch diameter) or a box (roughly the same size). This is a claw machine so nothing provided should be so delicate it cannot be picked up by a claw – for example, paper mache would likely be easily punctured. Nothing with magnets. Best judgement but generally speaking nothing heavier than 3 lbs, or something that would break when dropped.
Item examples:
– (in capsules) keychains and pins
– (in capsules) small prints (4×4), zines, bookmarks
– (in capsules) gift cards
– stuffed animals and pillows
– t-shirts, scarves, hats
Everything should come with a business card or some sort of tag so that we can link it back to you – we recommend something about the size of a business card and it should be either affixed to the prize via ribbon (if larger) or included with the donation (if capsule). We want people to know where these items come from. We will accept any quantity – if you’d like to just give us a single item, that will be fine, if you’d like to give us more, that is also fine. The claw machine will be in a public area, so any item in the machine will need to be ok for general audiences. Again, best judgement. You may contact us at any point before the drop-off dates to ask questions, etc.
IMPORTANT DATES:
- Initial Drop-Off or Post-By Date – January 31 (to be included in show at the start)
- Show Opens – February 11
- Restock Drop-Off or Post-By Date – February 21 (to be included in a restock)
- Gallery Hop – March 18
- Show Close – April 2
We can arrange to have items picked up if they are not won during the course of the event. The claw machine will be acting as a donation vehicle for RunJumpDev and the show – money put into the claw machine will return to RJD to cover the costs of the show. We are not a 501c3 so we cannot give tax receipts; if you have any questions about this, please let us know.