Garden of Venus

NFTs have become a way for women to yield more power in the arts and tech. While women have always been at the forefront of art and technology, blockchain allows them to take ownership. One goal of our exhibition is to challenge the perception of value; is women’s art more valuable in the ether or in the flesh? Women are extremely underrepresented in traditional art genres – solo shows, secondary market, etc.

Though blockchain technology has become a major transition in our time, the mainstream remains fearful despite the fact major companies are pouring millions of dollars into it (Salesforce, Meta, Time Inc., Mastercard, Sotheby’s, 1st Dibs) and it will soon become a common piece of tech we all use. NFTs provide an easy introduction to the use of blockchain; they are a way for people to confirm ownership, but community access and investment in creators is what people truly buy them for. And many of those crypto art communities are run by women.

Despite the ability to break stigmas, women only make up 16% of the NFT space. This trend is rapidly changing, women in the crypto art space do not want a repeat of the traditional art world, and even worse statistics. Resident engagement and education is our second major goal, and part of our mission is to teach the public that crypto art is approachable and here to stay. We hope to onboard as many women, LGBTQ, and BIPOC artists into this new art world by showing them a space for their work to shine and an avenue to earn without a middleman. NFTs have given one of the exhibitors a new art avenue to have her work collected, despite a physical disability, and other stigma against her. Two of the three exhibitors have yet to make an NFT; they will be onboarded and mint the evening before the opening reception of the show. It will be documented on social media.

Three of the NFTs created will be a collaboration between the Super Psychedelic Sisters (Arabella Proffer, Jenna Fournier, and Tess LeBaron), and will be sold with the proceeds of these 3 artworks going toward an organization for women (the nonprofit is TBD).

Building on the educational aspects, a major component of our project will be a free zine with a punk rock edge which will be distributed throughout Greater Cleveland during the run of the show. This “info zine” will be an easy guide to NFTs and how to get involved as a creator at any level. It serves to also educate on a technology that will soon be coming for everyone. It is based on Arabella’s popular digital guide, which is free of jargon and techy talk.

This will be the first and only women-led NFT exhibition in the state of Ohio to date. This is partially sponsored by The Ohio Arts Council.