Bentonville First Friday is back for the season! We’re excited to partner with local artist Jenny Dowd and the Cloud Factory in the Art Yard from 4:00-7:00pm on Friday, April 5th. The Cloud Factory is a temporary factory and vending machine that creates and dispenses tangible, portable clouds. For one day only the ephemeral Cloud Factory will take up residence in the Art Yard of 21c. Employees of the Cloud Factory will create and dispense clouds while maintaining the mystery of a factory and inner workings of a vending machine. The black box of a vending machine, while preserving its mystery, also comes to life in a moment of shared, collective wonder.

Bring your cloud in for 10% off at The Hive! 

Learn More:

The Cloud Factory is a human-operated vending machine that dispenses clouds. A vending machine is a black box: something goes in and something comes out, but what happens in-between is not visible. The employees of the Cloud Factory are the workings of this machinery, while the patrons experience the magic of a vending machine.

The Cloud Factory will be located for one day in the Art Yard of 21c and will employ a variety of community members. From 4 – 7 pm the factory will be operational. During this time a factory worker will roam the lawn outside of the factory and will dispense coins to anyone who wishes to purchase a cloud.

Once a specially minted coin has been received (given freely) the patron may choose from 2 options: cloud on a string or cloud on a stick. They will insert the coin into the slot next to the image and the cloud of their choosing will emerge from a larger slot.

About the Artist:

Jenny Dowd is an artist interested in objects that are collected, the motivation behind collecting, and the interaction of these objects. Primarily working in clay, she creates objects for table, wall, and floor surfaces as well as installations designed to interact with their space and each other. Sculpture, drawing and utilitarian pottery are part of Jenny’s quirky conversations where her relentless questions stem from design and functionality, daily oddities, and observations.