John Ippolito, a professor of new media at the University of Maine, spoke to the Portland Press Herald about 76-year-old artist Charlie Hewitt launching a collection of NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, becoming one of the first major Maine artists to explore that market. Hewitt is best known for his “Hopeful” signs, which are on display in cities around Maine and beyond. “The whole NFT phenomenon relies on the belief that it doesn’t need anything to prop up the work. I think the guy who created ‘Hopeful’ is sort of perfect for that,” Ippolito said.
