Patronizing the arts is of great importance. Art is as important as language in the annals of history. It illuminates the moments in time wherein the artist existed and provides a subjective but often unfiltered perspective on events. Without major patrons throughout history, we might never have known the true nature of things as they were in the earliest reaches of human civilization.
The internet has tarnished this behavior to a degree in that media consumption is often free, and if it's not, the cost is subsidized by the scale at which the media is distributed. Netflix and Spotify achieve this for professional-level artists, while YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and the like do so on a pseudo-professional to amateur level. The latter enable their audiences to monetize their work as long as it attracts a critical mass of viewers, whereas the former requires an up-front (albeit relatively low) fee. Both models are valid and relative to the quality of the work produced.
However valid these models may be, the fact remains that otherwise talented individuals go entirely unseen. Many of these same artists fade into nonexistence due to an inability to monetize their efforts, allowing them to grow and continue creating. Perhaps that's only fair. The cream rises to the top, and if you're not both an expert marketeer and a talented artist, you deserve to fail.
I refuse to believe this mantra.
In the past, artists were supported by wealthy patrons who provided funding for them to continue creating and helped them showcase their work in galleries, museums, and art fairs. This support was repaid as the artists gained popularity, leading to more patrons and increased value for the artwork held by those who supported the artists from the beginning.
The absence of The Church, Medici Family, or another Gertrude Whitney should not prohibit the next generation of digital artists from becoming sensationally popular.
Herein lies the value of web3, specifically Rounds and Moxie, driven by Farcaster.
/artist second rounds post-mortem
I can't tell you how ecstatic I am about the tools provided to us by the big brains who build on Farcaster but I can show you. The dream of enabling artists to create and build out their portfolios has never been more achievable. Let's take a look at the results of this latest round.
I became aware of the fact that Moxie DAO's latest retro-grant program didn't include a specific topic for artwork that supported the ecosystem. Artists could choose "other," but it felt very much like creators were an afterthought. As such, I initially kicked the round off with 50K as an unofficial retroactive grant program specifically for artists.
The initial post caught the attention of Jason Goldberg, the head of Airstack and founder of Moxie. Thanks to his generosity, we were able to provide artists with a total of 100,000 MOXIE this round.
Roughly half of the submissions were curated into the round and artists who participated were rewarded according to the popularity of their posts.
An unexpected side effect of this round was the increase in the /artist Fan Token price.
Anyone who holds at least ten FTs automatically appears on the Main feed of the channel, while anyone holding at least one FT can help curate the round. This gamified element clearly caught on this time because we saw a ~13% change in token value, bringing the all-time increase to +110%!
Congrats to those early believers.
What is possibly more interesting is that my overall control over the total FT supply dropped by nearly 20%, which means not only did we add more fans, but those fans were buying in multiples.
The channel itself also hit a key milestone after a marked increase; 1,000 followers! After a massive +300% increase in newcomers, this new development will certainly play an interesting role in the upcoming changes to channels (more on that to come).
We also saw a nearly 1000% increase in casts over the course of the round. I'm very keen to keep driving more discussions pertaining to art, culture, process, and history in this channel - so this was great to see.
Finally, congrats to our top three channel earners, @hankmoody, @jacque, and @intodaysnight.
Stay tuned, there are more rounds coming and lots more ways to monetize your art coming soon.
Final thoughts
The rise of web3 technologies, specifically platforms like Rounds and Moxie driven by Farcaster, represents a modern renaissance in art patronage. This digital revolution addresses the concerns raised at the beginning of this post: the importance of patronizing the arts and the challenges talented artists face in the internet age.
Just as wealthy patrons of the past supported artists and helped showcase their work. These new platforms are creating a decentralized form of patronage. They provide a much-needed solution to the problem of talented individuals going unseen or fading into nonexistence due to an inability to monetize their efforts.
The success of the recent /artist second round demonstrates the power of this new model:
1. It attracted significant funding (100,000 MOXIE) for artists.
2. The gamified element of Fan Tokens increased engagement and value, similar to how past patrons saw their collections grow in worth.
3. The channel's growth to 1,000 followers and the 1000% increase in casts show a burgeoning community of art enthusiasts and creators.
These developments prove that the absence of traditional patrons need not prohibit the next generation of digital artists from achieving success. Web3 platforms create a new paradigm where a global community of enthusiasts and collectors can support, showcase, and value art.
By bridging the gap between historical patronage and modern technology, we ensure that art continues to illuminate our times, providing unfiltered perspectives on events as it has throughout history. This new form of digital patronage is not just preserving the importance of art in our culture—it's revolutionizing how we interact with and support the artists of our era.
