by Tam Gryn, Director of Fine Arts Partnerships at Rally.io

(Main image NFT by $REBEL in Venus)

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The art world was not built by those who followed the herd. From Van Gogh to Duchamp, artistic movements have reached their potential thanks to the few who had the vision to see swirls in a starry night, or cultural change in a urinal. NFTs are just the next step in a long line of putting creative potential and power in the hands of the visionary and allowing artists to own their output in a way that was never possible before. It may be tempting for artists to blanch at the idea of getting behind NFTs because of negative sentiment in the meme-sphere, but few artists have ever changed the world by worrying about what other people think. Here are 11 reasons (not just money!) why artists shouldn’t be afraid of NFTs:


  1. Join the Crypto Crew - The artworld can be snobbish, elitist and exclusionary. The crypto community, on the other hand, is built around sharing and connection. Go to most any Discord, ask a question? You will likely be welcomed with open arms. Go into a gallery? Maybe not so much.
  1. Be the First Block in the Chain - You. Not your gallery. Not your dealer. Not the curator. You call the shots. Value is determined by creators and collectors rather than dealers, curators, and advisers who have a vested interest in maintaining authority by limiting access.
  1. Eternal Royalties - Current state of the art market: your work sells in a gallery to a collector for $10,000. You get 50%. You keep pushing your career forward and your work keeps increasing in value. Your collectors sell your work for 2x, 5x, 10x. Your piece disappears in storage and reappears in Christies for $10 million. How much do you get? $0. With NFTs you create the piece and you control the royalties you receive for perpetuity.



  1. Eco-friendly Options - Pick your blockchain. There are eco-friendly options such as Rally, Solana, etc.
  2. New Tech Makes the World Go Round - Just like mirrors enhanced frescoes during the Renaissance and the printing press helped artists democratize their messages since the time of Gutenberg, NFTs will also help you distribute your work in a permissionless way.
  3. Let’s Get Physical - NFTs are not exclusively used for digital art. They can also be used as certificates of authenticity for physical pieces and even the transactional smart contract itself. Three in one!
  4. Challenge the Canvas - There are tons of cool ways to display NFTs in the physical world, from Infinite Objects to projection screens or holograms. Use your creativity! The sky's the limit.
  5. Boldly Go - NFTs are reaching a whole new audience. That means new collectors. Crypto whales are the Medicis of the current crypto Renaissance and they are actively investing in art that reflects their decentralized permissionless values. Lean into this new powerful demographic. They want to lean into you and support you.
  6. Leverage Your Audience - You have spent countless unpaid hours on social media trying to build your community. Your art and content is valuable to them. Take the leap from followers to community. It's time to monetize together with your supporters and thank them with tokens for the time they spent liking you.
  7. Connect to Community - Community is the key word for success in an NFT project. Anyone can create an NFT but without community it falls flat. It’s a ton of pressure to create art and manage your hustle on Discord, Twitter etc. But you don't have to do it alone. NFTs help create a unique bond that can be the beginning of a collective with other artists and do it together!
  8. Be a Leader - You may get criticized by artworld snobs for being at the vanguard. So what? So did the Impressionists, Duchamp, Warhol and pretty much anyone who mattered. Auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s are already accepting ETH as payment and are no doubt watching the progress of NFTs like a hawk. They understand the power of this community and so should any artist who wants to be ahead of the game.



Understanding the ground rules of NFTs before they break into the mainstream will not only make you a pioneer, but will put you in peak position to take advantage as the market continues to grow. Every day more and more artists are seeing the potential for artistic autonomy and control over both your art, content and compensation through NFTs. True visionaries can see what’s next.

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