MOZAIK Philanthropy’s 4th Annual Future Art Awards: The Digital Awakening is an arts-based exploration and interrogation of meta-futures. As human beings begin to shift away from the physical world towards virtual and augmented realities, the world of art stands at the center of a global movement where immersive environments, online avatars, and the advent of a digital blockchain-based future will inevitably have a profound impact on art, culture, politics, activism, and the economy.
The Digital Awakening is an open call to US-based artists from all walks of life and creative expressions who wish to use their art to reimagine what a high-tech, highly connected — yet still deeply human — future metaverse could look like. Artists are witnessing the impact and demand for NFTs, and many of them want to get involved despite concerns over the inclusivity, representation and sustainability standards of this new space.
“As a grantmaking institution committed to democratizing philanthropy, we’re honored to continue our support of the creative economy at a time in American history where the power of art, imagination, and freedom of expression is more important than ever before. We are especially thrilled to welcome NFT artists to this year’s Future Art Awards, recognizing that artists will have a profound impact on the shaping of important ideas, values and themes in the crypto-art space, propelling the future trajectory of the NFT art ecosystem,” said Keely Badger, Executive Director of MOZAIK Philanthropy.
Since launching the Future Art Awards at the onset of the pandemic, MOZAIK Philanthropy has awarded over 200 U.S. artists with artist support grants and virtual exhibition exposure opportunities, including photographers, painters, sculptors, street artists, muralists, mixed-media artists, visual, multi and interdisciplinary artists, illustrators, animators, 3D artists, cartoonists, technologists, shorts filmmakers, poets, art writers, composers, weavers, dancers, and creative performers.
The 2022 Future Art Awards: The Digital Awakening honors outstanding contemporary artworks, individual NFTs as well as NFT collections for creative excellence across the following categories: originality, personality, quality of composition, creativity, skills, concepts of activism, justice or representation, overall emotional impression and adherence to the awards’ theme: The Digital Awakening.
All US-based artists practicing in any art form are welcome, including those who work with NFTs. Judging will proceed through a blind review process. Winners will receive between $2,500 and $5,000 and will be featured in a curated virtual exhibition, opening free to the public in the Fall of 2022.
The deadline to apply for The Digital Awakening is July 8; the application is free to submit.
For more information and to apply, visit mozaikphilanthropy.org/faa.
