Smithdown Social Arts Hub (SSAH), one of Liverpool’s grassroots arts organizations supporting local creatives, has been awarded £39,966 in funding from Innovate UK under the Creative Catalyst program. Starting from August 2023, the funding will be used to educate local creatives and community organisations to explore blockchain technologies and get support for onboarding technology platforms.
The award from Innovate UK will be used to deliver a 12-week blockchain education and art development program. SSAH hosted 2-hour workshops over six weeks that included learning about the emerging technology, how to create and sell NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and leverage blockchain technology to protect intellectual property.
SSAH will also launch five NFT projects at the end of the project in October 2023 that will show the diversity of NFT utility and how it can benefit a wide variety of users and communities.
Paul Tsanos, founding member of Smithdown Social, said:
“We are thrilled to receive this funding from Innovate UK, which will allow us to support local artists in gaining valuable skills for the new creative economy.
NFTs and blockchain represent an exciting new way for artists to build financial freedom and independence.
By providing education and resources, we hope to empower creatives in our community to take advantage of these new technologies and reach new audiences.”
NFTs have become a hot topic, with artists able to sell digital art and collectibles as one-of-a-kind assets, protect their intellectual property, and secure future royalties paid in cryptocurrency. However, many in the creative community still don’t fully understand the opportunities and risks associated with this new technology.
The project will be delivered by Paul Tsanos and Brenda Monahan who have over 10 years of combined experience as users of blockchain technology. The workshops will explain the technology, clarify myths, help navigate risks, and offer one-on-one mentoring for onboarding to the technology.
The 12-week program kicked off on August 1st, with education workshops starting in September.