It was a year ago this week that I took over The Culture Project. It’s crazy to think it’s been that long already, but at the same time it seems like longer. I’ve been trying to maintain and contribute to a community that evolves around generative art. Having other writers & artists join our community over the last year has been amazing. I’ve connected with so many people around the world. We all have a common interest that brings us together, Art. It bridges gaps and barriers in ways I never thought about. It was the Brush Strokes art that brought some of us together initially. I’m going to show case some pieces from the project before I go into how I became the owner of this project. And explain what this project is now about. For me it’s a crazy ride that started close to two years ago.
These first three have some of the rarest set of traits & color palettes.
These next three have the more common traits.
Brush Strokes in the beginning was all about the art. Some WIPs were posted in a few alpha groups and people loved them. When 0xCulture created the twitter and discord people flooded in to get an OG spot for a guaranteed mint. The art spawned a community over night. It was amazing to be a part of and I ended up becoming a moderator for the discord server. Brush Strokes minted out in minutes and the project has now reached over 100 ETH in secondary sales. 0xCulture had this great vision for the future of The Culture Project. Bringing together street culture and art, with physical aspects as well. He was a talented programmer and artist. He had great live video sessions showing how contracts worked, covering the more technical side of NFTs. It was an amazing community.
That’s when it all came crashing down. He was doing everything by himself with help from some community members. He made some bad decisions investing the majority of the community funds and degening into NFT projects. The projects he invested in ended up crashing and he lost a lot money. After that he went into a depression and disappeared for a while.
When he came back he wasn’t the same. His motivation was gone and he wasn’t excited for future projects any more. He ended up leaving again, but not before giving the project to me and another member. He left us with the discord, twitter, ENS, and some ETH. We had a few WL giveaways to some random projects in the beginning. I decided to start writing articles for the community. Sharing the knowledge I knew the most about, generative art on fxhash. The other co-owner ended up leaving due to IRL issues and I became full time owner of the project. I have a few moderators and some community members that have been around since the beginning. I personally collected some Art Blocks works a year ago and learned a lot more about the ETH side of generative art. That’s when I decided we would give generative art back to The Culture Project community. I put in offers on lower end Art Blocks projects and collected two of each. I did the same with fxhash, buying two pieces at a time off the floor. We keep one piece for the vault and we give one piece to the community. We now have two roles that get you access to the giveaways in our discord server. To the dedicated members that are active in the community, the role Cultured. All Brush Strokes holders get the role Genesis Holder and have their own giveaways. In the last twelve months we have given away twenty seven different generative art pieces to community members. It’s been a great way to onboard new collectors to the Tezos blockchain and generative art. We’ve given so many people their first Art Blocks, fxhash, or even generative art piece in general. It’s been an amazing feeling to share this much.
That brings us to the last part of this article.
There was one other thing 0xCulture left us when he left, Brush Strokes V0. It was a banner sized version of Brush Strokes that predated the one we knew and loved.
It was another hit with the community when he showed us. It was one that was promised to be a free mint to the current holders of the project. I’ve decided it will be the next project we release on fxhash. It will be a free mint for all Brush Strokes holders. There will also be a public mint for any new people that may want to join our community. We will have more information on that release later. For now here are some WIPs from Brush Strokes V0.
Brush Strokes V0 WIP
Brush Strokes V0 WIP
Brush Strokes V0 WIP
This is a thank you to the Artists and Writers that have joined our community. Links to their twitter.
Haiver Phenomena Daniel Aguilar Kusamehewa tenebris.via node1618
fxhash Art Blocks @joshripple - Owner of The Culture Project
Thanks for reading and please like and share the article if you enjoyed it. We are just trying to spread some Tezos and Generative Art love with The Culture Project. Our community is open to anyone that wants to learn about or share generative art. The communities Twitter, Discord, and my twitter @joshripple. If you like the content please give us a follow.
The concise history you shared was truly captivating. I feel compelled to offer a personal reflection based on my own experience after 0xCulture graciously opened up to us through a heartfelt letter on Discord.
As an adult living with chronic ADHD, witnessing his vulnerability and desire to connect with the community he created has inspired me in two significant ways that continue to resonate with me.
1. I used to struggle with "ghosting" people, even those closest to me, when confusion and anxiety clouded my ability to respond. This could have been a result of over-promising and under-delivering, or simply feeling guilty about something. However, when I saw 0xCulture's courageous decision to share his thoughts with the community and found myself on the receiving end of such openness, I was filled with happiness knowing he was well, gratitude for his efforts to connect, and appreciation for his sincerity. This profound experience transformed my own behavior concerning avoidance, leading me to reach out to several individuals I had left in limbo months prior.
2. The realization that there are other adult men, like myself, grappling with similar struggles, emotions, and feelings was truly enlightening. It made me understand that I am not alone in trying to navigate a world that seems ill-suited for my brain's unique wiring. This revelation led me to seek much-needed ADHD coaching and therapy, providing me with invaluable tools to work with my ADHD, rather than against it.
To me, this project transcends every other NFT project for deeply personal reasons. I cherish 0xCulture's letter, keeping it on my phone as a constant reminder of the invaluable lessons it has taught me.
Holy shit, I had no idea