Black Artists Are Seizing Opportunities NFTs Provide to Monetize Their Artwork

By Evelyn B. Bourne

Black artists have been notably absent in the art world which has been dominated by the work of white males in the United States.  Crwnmag.com cites a 2019 study which found that the collections of 18 museums in the US, which includes more than 40,000 works of art, 84% of the artists represented were white and 87.4% were men. Contrast those numbers with the demographics of the US at 60% white and 49.2% male. The emergence of crypto art—in the form of NFTs is poised to change everything related to how Black artists are seen and their work appreciated in this country.

NFTs are all the buzz recently since one sold in early March for $69.3 million at a Christie’s art auction. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are a form of the cryptocurrency Ethereum. If you do not know what NFTs are, here is an article that explains NFTs.

Isaiah Jackson, author of Bitcoin Black America, said, “The Black NFT art space has opened up a new world where crypto and creative minds come together … This is just the beginning, and I believe the Black creative community will be the leaders in the space for years to come,”

A Black crypto virtual art exhibition featuring 33 Black artists from 8 countries covering 5 curatorial themes called: “Black Provenance: $Black Speculative Futures on the Blockchain,” is being featured in the digital art gallery, One/Off. Shows like these offer previously unsung Black artists the chance to share the spotlight and get their work in front of collectors who are looking to get in on the NFT art frenzy.

An article on ConsenSys reports that as of 2019, the combined auction value of African American artists is a mere 0.26 percent of the global art market. Cuy Sheffield, head of Crypto at Visa, reports that the average sale price of Black crypto artwork is increasing 543% from $144 to $927 between January and November 2020.

The emergence of crypto art has the potential to level the playing field and open up exciting opportunities for Black artists to gain recognition and generate revenue thanks to the democratization of the industry that NFTs provide.

Because of how NFTs are minted, (created) on the Ethereum block chain, their provenance is recorded and traceable making each one unique. Scarcity is one of the elements that gives art its value to collectors. NFTs create scarcity.

Another thing NFTs create along with proof of the provenance of a piece of artwork, is the opportunity for the artist to continue to benefit financially when the piece is sold in the future through a mechanism called smart contracts which is part of the Ethereum blockchain and not unlike the concept of royalty payments in the music industry. The blockchain creates a digital trail of the history of ownership and selling price of every NFT transaction.

Artists are no longer subject to the dictates of art galleries, or patrons. An artist can create their art, mint their own NFTs and “drop” (launch or debut) them on an increasing number of NFT marketplaces such as:

• OpenSea
• SuperRare
• BakerySwap
• Nifty Gateway
• Foundation

Art collectors must already have a digital wallet stocked with Ethereum cryptocurrency before they visit a marketplace to purchase NFT art.

Artists can sign up for accounts on the marketplace of their choice, mint their artwork and wait for collectors to find them. Artists can grow an audience on social media sites such as TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit to attract collectors and announce when their next pieces will drop.

An important factor to consider when creating and pricing NFT art is the fees that accompany this process. In some cases, the artist must pay to mint their artwork, and then pay a “gas” fee, which is the price of the energy it takes to process the NFT transaction on the block chain. Like any cryptocurrency, the price of ETH fluctuates, so the current market price and conversion fees must be considered, too.

If you want to keep up with what is new in the Black crypto art space, follow the Twitter account, @BlackNFTArt, and the Instagram account, @BlackNFTCreators which feature a diverse collection of emerging and established Black crypto artists with NFTs in search of collectors.

Whether this frenzy surrounding NFTs is a bubble that will quickly burst, or if NFTs will stick around for a while remains to be seen. Regardless of the outcome, Black artists and collectors who want to diversify their collections and expose themselves to amazing artists who are finally getting their due will benefit greatly from NFTs.

Visit: E.Bourne Art