Sonny

Illusttration in glow in the dark of clouds with rain falling from them onto the ground on a black background

Sonny is a Chicago based street artist who became popular in the late aughts for their raincloud imagery featured across the city of Chicago, Illinois. In 2002, the Busy Beaver Button Museum began hosting a yearly collaborative button collection titled “So and So’s Button-O-Matic,” aimed at collaborating with artists through pinback button designs made accessible through vending or gumball machines. The project was later rebranded as simply “Button-O-Matic,” in 2008 with that year’s collection titled “Glow.” Sonny was one of the artists asked to participate in the collection, creating their signature raincloud motif that ironically points to their namesake. 

This button is part of the 2008 “Glow” Button-O-Matic series (the buttons glow in the dark) produced by Busy Beaver Button Company. The Button-O-Matic is a gumball style vending machine that dispenses limited edition art buttons.