When I think of the art of Reginald Baylor, I think of whimsical works of wonder. I became very familiar with his work in my journey of entering the art world as a Milwaukee native. When we first met was during the Wisconsin 30 exhibition in 2013 at the Milwaukee Art Museum. He was a man who had my skin color, yet towered in stature due to being tall as well as in nationwide impact. Private collections. Galleries. Museums. Downtown studio. He “made it” by every stretch of the art imagination.
It also happened that I was the youngest artist exhibiting in the Wisconsin 30. Can you find me? I will give you a hint, I am trying to hide in plain sight. (I’m in the back.)
We developed a rapport then a working relationship then a friendship over the years. It felt like he was at the top of the art world as it related to Milwaukee and I was at the grassroots, bottom. I was still transitioning from being a starving artist to having collectors where my 20x30 photographs started to sell for $500+. Our conversations were like visiting distant galaxies that we may never reach based on our experiences.
I started to phase out of the “ARTLife” as I called it in 2016 to go all in on building on Bitcoin, which I didn’t know was even possible at the time. I’ve always had an appetite for high risk given my volatile background. After early Web3 success, I was hooked. I found out about NFTs and I did my research. I created, sold, and collected NFTs. My first thought was that this leveled the playing field for artists anywhere in the world. No more gatekeepers. No more kingmakers. No more art school degrees for access to certain collector circles. No more weird consignment deals to just have “exposure”. Truly, I believed that every artist needed to be on-chain, so I talked to artists. Crickets.
They didn’t understand it or thought it was a scam. Then I contacted Reginald Baylor.
After a series of conversations and some research, he understood what was possible.
While the world was shut down due to COVID-19, we developed a small team and began building out the idea for Soul Food Sister & Brother. We piloted mini collections on Ethereum. In a bear market, when the crypto market is down, we had to get creative. After strategies and community building in Discord, which was clunky, both mini collections sold out. Then the full collection needed to be made. It was finished.
Reginald Baylor and his creative director Melissa Courtney gave us gold standard art. The hard part was myself and Assune, one of the best hackers I know, didn’t think the market was ready for the art. As the bear market drudged along, we were right.
So, we held the digital vaults closed, for over a year. But, the time is now. Well, technically, the time is July 2024. I’m excited to announce a partnership with Reginald Baylor Studio! In July, Reggie Baylor is launching "Soul Food Sister & Brother" as an NFT collection on Gamma, the best place to invest in quality Bitcoin / Stacks NFTs.
This is high art on-chain and this has been years in the making! Shout out to Melissa Courtney and Assune. Click here to watch where I interview Reggie and Melissa.
Visit SoulFoodSisterBrother.com to learn more about the artwork. Let’s do this. 🟧
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