• Auction will take place in Arium Spaces (3D virtual and metaverse-native space fostering an organic social experience) and Discord on September 15th 2021 at 8pmUTC.
• Leading NFT artists, such as Kevin Abosch, Mario Klingermann, Helen Sarin have donated unique artworks.
THE METAVERSE, September 10, 2021–VerticalCrypto Art (VCA), the artist-first community and media hub founded and led by Micol since July 2020, will run an NFT fundraising auction on Wednesday September 15, 2021 at 8pmUTC. The proceeds of this auction will go towards funding an ongoing series of cryptoart virtual residency programs for emerging artists. The residency, launched in July 2021, has been so far supported in part by the Tezos Foundation.
In order to continue the development of this and further residency programs and to support more emerging creators, thirteen of the most well-known artists in the space have donated unique 1/1 artworks to be auctioned off on Wednesday 15th September. The artists are: Mario Klingermann, Brendan Dawes, Helena Sarin, Kevin Abosch, Luluix, Gisel Florez, Luxpris, Lia Something, Mattia Cuttini, RareScrilla, Andrea Sygin, an artist known as “Caesuras”; and an artist who will remain anonymous.
The auction will be cross-chain–including works on both the Ethereum and Tezos blockchains–depending on the artists’ preference. The event will take place in Arium Spaces with a live DJ performance set by Eclectic Method and will be streamed on VCA’s Twitter and Discord.
A custom metaverse-build has been created for this purpose by two of the residency’s artists: Cagri Taskin and Walt Reunamo. These talented artists applied skills acquired during the residency to bring this immersive metaverse experience to life. All the pieces included in the auction will be revealed on Monday 13th September.
The residency programs which the auction will fund is running for six months, educating and supporting creative individuals new to the NFT space by nurturing forms of collaborative expression, equipping artists with “metaverse” native skill sets, in addition to supporting the creation and minting of NFTs.
The first iteration of the VCA residency launched in July 2021 with a cohort of seventeen artists from seventeen different countries–Kazakhstan, Iran, France, Turkey, Singapore, to name a few. The resident artists all have unique experiences and backgrounds: architects, painters, coders, photographers, digital artists, crypto-writers. During the residency they learned about various aspects of the cryptoart space, such as blockchain art history, metaverse architecture, VR and AR techniques and crypto security.
The curriculum of classes were taught by various thought-leaders and experts in the space, such as Jason Bailey aka Artnome, DADA.art founders Judy and Beatriz, Colborn Bell from Museum of Crypto Art (MOC△), Bernadine Brocker from Vastari, the Processing Org, Fanny Lakoubay, and many more.
“It is an immense honour to be able to bring together such a diverse group of creative individuals and equip them with knowledge on the crypto art ecosystem. I am extremely excited to keep building the program and fostering the advancement of the ecosystem.”
• Micol, CEO and Founder of VCA
“With Vertical’s Residency, the spirit of crypto art is alive and well! Micol is a tireless warrior for artists and their stories, sharing invaluable insights and expertise in an otherwise confounding and obtuse market. There is quite literally * nothing * more important than this work”
• Colborn Bell, Founder of Museum of Crypto Art (MOC△)
“Despite the attention given to large sales and new tech, it has always been community leaders like Micol who keep the cryptoart and NFT communities together and help to drive them forward. Programs like the free Digital Art Residency offered by Vertical Crypto Art are critical to making sure that we are building a more diverse and decentralized art world in which everyone can participate. We are incredibly lucky to have Micol as a leader in our community.”
• Jason Bailey, aka Artnome
As the NFT and Crypto Art ecosystem grows, it is essential for artists to be able to lean into resources and educational programs, such as this residency, which can give them the knowledge, skills and tools to empower their metaverse/crypto art and Web3 journey.
VerticalCrypto Art is committed to developing this and further programs, educating newcomer artists and creators and providing them with tools and resources needed to access this ecosystem, thereby ensuring that Crypto Art expands in a diverse and inclusive way.
About Vertical Crypto Art:
VerticalCrypto Art is a hub and artist-first community dedicated to the evolution and advancement of the NFT and cryptoart ecosystem.
Founded by Micol Apruzzese in August 2020, VerticalCrypto Art provides curatorial services and creative and event NFT consultancy. VerticalCrypto Art is pioneering the first ever NFT-dedicated virtual artist residency and educational program, supporting artists worldwide by providing tools, resources, and skills with which to approach the NFT world.
Contact:
Micol Apruzzese, Co-Founder and CEO
Twitter: @verticalcrypto
Website: https://verticalcrypto.art/
Email: verticalcryptoart@gmail.com
Discord: discord.gg/QWSvE68QYy