An open letter to the art world: Your metaverse choices will shape the virtual art world for women artists. Choose wisely.

Perhaps you are a working artist, a fine art collector, or someone who works in the $70 billion global fine art industry. Maybe you’re a business strategist considering NFTs and VR experiences for your brand and consumers. Or perhaps you’re someone who never collected art in her life but is suddenly snapping up “art NFTs” left and right.

If you see yourself in any of these roles, then this letter is addressed to you.?

There is a virtual art world that is taking shape today - right now, as we speak. It’s in web3, specifically, where cryptocurrencies and decentralized transactions are taking place on the blockchain. And to be fair, there aren’t too many people from the physical fine art world participating in the evolution of this virtual art world.?

This needs to change.?

We at Alice Riot truly believe the future for the contemporary art world exists both in the real world and in the virtual world – and the promise for women artists to gain parity, to lead and grow in that future, is incredibly exciting.?

Yet, for all the advantages the metaverse can bring to help women artists grow, many artists are not going there – at least not yet. Why? Because there are some pretty big problems with the virtual, crypto-driven art world that is unfolding today.?

We respect those who are steering clear of the metaverse - including some of the artists we work with. Their concerns are legitimate and not optional for the rest of us to consider.?

That said, there is a better path forward, and if you are reading this - even if you’re not yet in the metaverse or ready to go there - then you are one of the key players in shaping the future for the virtual art world.?

There is a silver lining here. But before you can see it, it’s important to understand what’s so wrong with the picture right now, especially for those who live and work in fine art.?

So please don’t turn away after reading just the first half of this letter – take it all in.?

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First, here are four very legitimate reasons why so many artists are not yet stepping into the metaverse:

1. Barrier to entry. The metaverse is perceived as inaccessible and elitist, thanks to the (obscene) valuations on crypto currencies. For example: As of this morning, May 18, it costs $1,948 USD to acquire one Ethereum (ETH) token, which is the core currency for OpenSea, Rarible and most other popular art NFT marketplaces.?

Now, some might point out that one month ago, the price for one ETH was $3,275 - so it’s a great time to get into ETH.?

But here’s the rub: a high number of working artists - or average people, for that matter - don't have $3,275 to enter that game, much less $1,948.

If you can, you’re in rarefied air and have access most others don’t have.?

2. "Gas” and “mining” fees gouge artists and collectors. “Gas fee” is crypto-speak for the cost to mint an NFT – that is, to create an NFT on the blockchain and list it for sale. “Mining fee” is the transaction fee – the cost you’ll pay to purchase an NFT, above and beyond the listed price.?

Here’s a collector experience: I recently purchased an NFT priced at .1 ETH – and paid another .05 ETH for the "gas fee" or "mining fee.” Translate to traditional currency based on the rate for one ETH at that time: I paid $163.75 in gas fees – in total, $491.25 for an NFT priced at $327.50.?

?WTF??

?The architects have built a system that enriches very few people.?

3. The negative climate impact of an NFT is downright dangerous. It takes energy to run the virtual world, and each NFT transaction – depending on the blockchain used to mint it – can be measured in Kilowatt-hours (kWh). (Source: Statista)

For reference: the average U.S. daily household electricity consumption is about 29 kWh.?

That NFT I purchased using ETH? That one transaction used 238.22 kWh. A single NFT transaction with Ethereum used enough energy to power the average home for at least eight days. EIGHT DAYS.?

What’s worse? A single Bitcoin transaction uses 1,575 kWh. Yeah, enough energy to power that same average home for nearly TWO MONTHS.?

FFS. No wonder so many artists with a modicum of care for the environment are saying “no thanks.”?

4. Women artists are losing out all over again. The promise of the metaverse – for starters, NFTs serving as digital authenticity certificates, digital limited-edition prints, or both, built with smart contracts that guarantee artist royalties in physical and virtual secondary market sales – isn’t easily seen across the current art NFT marketplace landscape.?

The emerging virtual art world, evidenced by NFT sales, is being built for the men: only 18% of art NFTs currently trading is by women artists, and are on average 1/30th the price of art NFTs created by men. And yes, the percentages are even worse for artists of color.?

This sounds a lot like the art world in real life, where works by women artists represent only 2% of all global auction sales and are priced on average 1/3 less than works by their male peers. (Source: Artnet)?

And the traditional art world players aren’t making VR choices that help level those disparities: When Christie’s hosted its first-ever auction of an NFT in 2021 - selling for $69 million - it chose to auction a work by Beeple, a white male artist.?

On top of it all, a good amount of what is served up as “art” as NFTs isn’t really art in the traditional sense - not tied to an original work. One can argue that NFTs themselves are a new artist medium. (We’re a tad skeptical of that line of thinking.)?

So, it’s a frustrating scene for women artists. I’ll admit I even get punchy when I see NFT art, metaverse posts & memes that amplify the highest-grossing traditional art world male artists. They already get the attention and the valuation, and I just don’t think we should default to elevating them right now - even to poke fun. Damien Hirst is the last artist I want to see thriving in the metaverse. (Sorry, Kenny Schachter, for slamming your artwork. There’s a glitch in my sense of humor.)?

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The good news is that most of the problems with blockchain, crypto and the emerging virtual art world – financial, social and environmental – are not insurmountable. It comes down to our technology choices and being intentional with principles that put purpose, people and planet first. Can that sound like corporate speak? A bit. But it’s spot on.

We can and should make blockchain and web3 choices that help level the playing field and bring more artists - and progressive/disruptive art leaders - from the real world into the metaverse.?

First and foremost, our technology choices matter.?

Here’s one example: Stellar Network. Stellar is a financial platform that is multi-chain – which means that it accepts the widest range of both crypto and traditional, government-issued currencies. Here are some things to like about it:

• You can use regular money or crypto tokens to transact, depending on how the NFT marketplaces built on Stellar are designed. Credit card? Yep. While the true promise of blockchain is to remove the middleman (i.e., banks), a multi-chain platform will help with broader consumer adoption of metaverse buying experiences.?
• The “gas fee” to mint an NFT is less than $1 USD. Hello!?
• The “mining fee” is 2.25% - one of the lowest mining fees you’ll find. (Remember, I paid a 50% mining fee on that one NFT.)
• Stellar uses just 0.00022 kWh per transaction. (That would power the same household for less than one minute.)?

The art-focused NFT marketplaces on Stellar – like Litemint, The Blue Marble, and the soon-to-launch Fimi Market – give OpenSea, Rarible, and other NFT marketplaces built on ETH or Bitcoin a real run for the real money: they literally put more money in the hands of the artists.

We also like the women-owned and -driven platforms out there: CEEK, for instance, is creating exceptional venue-based virtual experiences for music, art and entertainment. We’re big fans of Mary Spio, the founder, and are actively in talks with her team on ways traditional art world experiences will soon show up in the CEEK metaverse.?

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For Alice Riot, we meet the artist where she is. She may want to grow her art career beyond the traditional art-world channels of galleries, exhibitions, fairs and auctions. She may be ready to explore fine art licensing with brands and products. And she may or may not be ready to drop NFTs or work in the metaverse.?

We ourselves have to operate with purpose, to help her grow and thrive so she can do what she does best: Create exceptional works of art. That means we don’t necessarily just race to the metaverse to find those channels for growth.

With that, we have identified our six Alice Riot principles that guide our work to help women artists connect with brands and institutions in both physical and meta ways:?

1. Ideally, any virtual world art experience is connected with a physical world experience.?
2. We view NFTs as digital certificates of authenticity for original works, as limited-edition digital prints of original works, or both.?
3. Smart contracts, minimum 15% royalties and secondary sale royalties for artists are table stakes.
4. Start small but build for future scale - consider the NFT as a foundational building block for VR presence.?
5. Choose blockchain platforms that are accessible, multi-chain and with minimal carbon impact.
6. We strive to open the doors for more traditional art world players to come inside and define the virtual art world. Women and artists of color must be engaged intentionally to ensure the virtual art world is accessible and equitable - which, in turn, will help accelerate equity and access for those same artists in the real world. (This is exactly why we are helping ArtTable with its first-ever NFT drop.)

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Net-net, we shouldn’t settle for Bitcoin and Ethereum - or “art” as defined by the crypto early adopters - as the virtual fine art world takes shape. Those platforms are constructing a virtual world that may not be doing the traditional art world any favors. We need more curious-minded artists, art world leaders and institutions, and art collectors to start showing up in the metaverse - and to help shape its evolution in ways that truly help artists thrive - both in the real world and in the virtual world.?

We encourage you to examine the options out there for your own foray into VR and the metaverse. And if you need any guidance as you do that, let us know. We’re here to help.?

Kelly Groehler - CEO, Alice Riot?