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Responding to the need for diversity in the Web3 space, Moon Landing has recently produced the first NFT series with a nonprofit studio for artists with disability.
WAGMI, launching 26 August, is a new online exhibition from Moon Landing showcasing the work of artists from Project Onward – a nonprofit studio dedicated to the creative growth of adults whose lives are impacted by mental illness and developmental disabilities.
Full of playful pop culture moments ranging from Cheers nostalgia to women’s wrestling, the exhibition will display both artworks and NFTs. The latter, of course, is in line with Moon Landing’s overarching position in the Web3 space; Lisa Slominski founded Moon Landing as a brand new initiative for neurodiversity in the NFT space. So far, it has released the first-ever NFT series in collaboration with a nonprofit studio for artists with disability coined NFToons (also in partnership with Project Onward).
Though the first project of its kind, NFToons was a major success on its launch on 11 July, grossing 16.2 ETH ($30,000) in NFT sales – with 80 per cent of sale profits going to Project Onward and its artists. Alongside the WAGMI exhibition, Lisa explains that the initiative already has plans for future ventures. “Our hope is that our second collection (title TBC) with the Melbourne-based Arts Project Australia will drop towards the end of year, followed by three to four collections per year, each a collaboration with a specific supported studio,” the founder explains. As other platforms in the space have already highlighted, Web3 is an imbalanced space when it comes to representation and inclusivity, and Lisa’s idea for Moon Landing emerged within this landscape.
“Moon Landing responds to both the NFT Space/Web3’s call for more diversity, as well as the need for a more diverse art world in general. The nonprofit organisations/studios we work with and the NFT space are both challenging (in awesome ways) traditional assumptions of who gets to be an artist and how we experience creative output.”
Having worked in “the larger field of diversity and inclusivity in contemporary art for many years, specifically often collaborating with nonprofit organisations/studios that support neurodivergent, intellectually and learning disabled artists”, Lisa saw an opportunity within Web3. The founder explains how after “connecting creatively with The Hard Drive Studio on a project during lockdown, together we noticed the enormous potential of the NFT space for artists to gain access and exposure to a new direct audience, as well as an untapped income stream for creative nonprofits.” The NFToons collection is proof of this potential. The series is currently available at GameStop, a marketplace that helped provide initial traction with the launch and assists with mitigating the carbon footprint of NFTs.
As for WAGMI, audiences will find a selection of 18 drawings and paintings on display. While the work of Jackie Cousins, for example, lenses reality TV and pro-wrestling, artist Louis DeMarco will feature drawings and NFTs based on “his own conceptualised television series merging the nostalgia of Cheers and Friends,” explains Lisa. Another of the founder’s highlights includes the work of Ruby Bradford, who “implements the iconography of Superman and notable figures in her work”, Lisa says. “These characters are often represented as cats – symbolic in her practice of caring and belonging.” The complete list of artists displayed at WAGMI are: Ruby Bradford, Jacqueline Cousins Oliva, Louis DeMarco, Stephon Doby, David Holt, Michael Hopkins, Sereno Wilson and George Zuniga.
To see the exciting work and NFT editions on display, and get a glimpse at each creator’s art-making process, check out the WAGMI exhibition page which will be live from Friday, 26 August.
Louis Demarco: WAGMI (Copyright © Louis Demarco / Moon Landing, 2022)
David Holt: Kobe Bryant (Copyright © David Holt, 2022)
Michael Hopkins: Tupac (Copyright © David Holt, 2022)
Louis Demarco: WAGMI (Copyright © Louis Demarco / Moon Landing, 2022)
www.moonlandingnft.com
nft.gamestop.com/collection/MoonLanding-NFToons
moonlandingnft.com/wagmi-art
www.projectonward.org
Video credits:
Ruby Bradford: Super Ruby (Copyright © Ruby Bradford, 2022)
Ruby Bradford: Superman Cat (Copyright © Ruby Bradford, 2022)
Ruby Bradford: Superman Cat (Copyright © Ruby Bradford, 2022)
Jackie Cousins: Suplex (Copyright © Jackie Cousins, 2022)
Sereno Wilson: Good Cherries (Copyright © Sereno Wilson, 2022)
Liz Gorny
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Liz (she/they) joined It’s Nice That as news writer in December 2021. After graduating in Film from The University of Bristol, she worked freelance, writing for independent publications such as Little White Lies, INDIE magazine and design studio Evermade.
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