Why are we Here?
After 35+ years of local NYC programming aimed at empowering youth through the arts, the CityKids Foundation is continuing its innovative cultural programs by launching the GOODART DAO. The DAO’s aim is promoting wellbeing, social activism, and self-empowerment by utilizing web3, blockchain, and NFT technology to augment CityKids’ track record of impactful youth mentorship and development programs.
Funded by NFT sales of the “CityKids Speak on Liberty” artwork that CityKids co-created with Keith Haring for the 100-year anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, GOODART DAO’s global community will launch new education, art, and NFT projects in collaboration with established and emerging artists focused on mental health, social justice, climate change, and racial equity.
Join us as we “Speak on Liberty” by adding your name to share what liberty means to you for an opportunity to receive one of our founding Liberty Torch NFTs.
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To seed the GooArtDAO’s initial activities, CityKids is overseeing our initial launch roadmap
Liberty Torch Founding NFT
Onboard community members from CityKids alumni, staff and board members, and the young people who participate in the “Liberty Torch” NFT mint, to support establishing the DAO’s governance framework and roadmap planning.
CityKids Speak on Liberty
Secure participation from CityKids supporters and early backers of GOODART DAO with the “CityKids Speak on Liberty” NFT collection launch during this year’s Art Basel and Miami Art Week celebrations.
Education Playbook
Create a non-profit playbook of best practices taken from CityKids and its partners’ extensive experience in the field of youth activism. The GOODART DAO community will then help shape this playbook to train global youth to become cultural and community leaders in arts and activism and become proficient with blockchain technologies and NFT strategies.
photo credit: Jane Feldman
National Tour
Embark on a CityKids Speak on Liberty Across America Tour stopping at 10 major cities to roll out programs for the next generation using restorative practices to dialogue about social justice issues and then collaborate on art projects that prompt them to add their own vision on the meaning of liberty.
photo credit: Jane Feldman
Future Artist Collaborations
CityKids have a long history of collaborating with other world-renowned artists including Kenny Scharf and Shepard Fairey. We will continue this legacy of partnering with other artists as the GOODART DAO intends to produce more highly-detailed, large-format, or high-definition artworks through collaborative youth education projects. These art projects will then also be parceled into NFTs. The content of each new piece will be workshopped between the young people and the artist to explore pressing social issues of the day. Our goal is to create sustainability for the young people and their organizations through new NFT sales.
NYC Operations Space
Returning to CityKids’ original home at 57 Leonard Street, CityKids and the GoodArt DAO will create a physical community center for restorative connection, activism, web3 education and art. This location will be a safe space for youth to connect and create, and will welcome other non-profit organizations to use the space- creating a hub for youth focused work.
photo credit: Jane Feldman
To be continued...
How to Participate?
1986 founding editions of the Liberty Torch NFTs will grant DAO community members access to vote and submit proposals as we operationalize the roadmap.
The original “CityKids Speak on Liberty” has been fully digitized and parceled into a 396 unique NFTs:
- 12 NFTs are special edition larger squares form the bottom of the painting
- 384 NFTs are standard edition squares that compose the rest of the painting
334 NFTs will be made available to the public, with The CityKids Foundation retaining 50 of the parcels to provide leadership across ongoing programming and services while collaborating with DAO members to evolve and execute on the roadmap.
Join us as we foster a global community focused on helping young people find and strengthen their individual and collective voices, foster personal wellbeing, develop the tools to positively impact their lives and become leaders and motivated agents of social change.
New to DAOs, NFTs and web3? Thats ok, so were we!
Visit the FAQ, join one of our weekly open office hours, or drop us a question in our Discord channel to learn more.
Founding Members and Advisors
DAO (pronounced “dow”) stands for a “Decentralized Autonomous Organization”, and represents a new way of organizing groups of people. DAOs use blockchain technology to offer transparent decision making tools for the organization. Dy distributing NFTs and/or cryptocurrency tokens to members of the DAO, they can vote on how the DAO will operate, decentralizing governance.
NFT (“Non-Fungible Token”) are digital records of ownership that are created and stored in a trusted way thanks to blockchain technology. Any type of media can be associated to the NFT, with ownership rights often outlined in terms of sale documents to clarify usage rights. NFT creators can also promise certain utility to owners, such as decision making rights on DAO governance proposals or access to in person events. Check out this Forbes article to learn more.
“Web3” is the term used to describe the evolution of the Internet into the next phase, made possible by blockchain technologies which help define digital ownership on the Internet. 2005-2020 largely describes the Web2 phase.
Blockchain Technology describes a general class of technology that started in 2009 with the launch of Bitcoin. Transactions between 2 or more parties are recorded in blocks (a collection of agreed-upon transactions), and then these blocks are chained together one after the other (hence “blockchain”) representing time stamps of when the verified transactions occurred. With Bitcoin, each block took approximately 10 minutes to occur, so whatever transactions around the world happened during those 10 minutes, they would be verified and grouped together in a single block. Then the next block of transactions would be verified and recorded. Think of blockchain as a global collection of computers all agreeing on which transactions were valid, in what order, and between whom. Without blockchain technology, there would be no agreement – or “consensus” – between computers about the order of transactions around the world. With the evolution of Ethereum and other “compute” chains, “transactions” were no longer just transfers of financial value, but also the occurrence of software code in specified order, enabling things like smart contracts (automated code that runs whenever the contract is executed by the blockchain computers).
NFT’s are digital objects (JPG’s, GIFs, MP4’s, etc.) that exist on specific blockchains – meaning Ethereum NFTs are different from Solana NFTs are different from Algorand NFTs. To purchase an NFT, you must have the corresponding token from that blockchain, in an amount equal to the NFT’s price. NFT prices are quoted in these tokens (i.e. 2.4 Eth, or 1.8 SOL, or 113 ALGO), and also require a gas or transaction fee in order to process. Here are the steps for purchasing a GoodArt DAO NFT: 1. Install a Metamask or Coinbase or other web wallet in your browser, or by installing their mobile app (NOT a Coinbase exchange wallet – your wallet needs to be able to talk to the Web3 Internet). DO NOT STORE YOUR SEEDPHRASE IN GOOGLE DRIVE, EVERNOTE, GMAIL, OR ANY OTHER ONLINE DIGITAL LOCATION. WRITE IT DOWN ON PAPER (AND DO NOT LOSE IT). THIS IS YOUR ONLY PASSWORD RECOVERY FEATURE AND IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. 2. Fund your wallet with sufficient Eth or Matic to purchase the NFT – plus a little extra to push the transaction across the network (the gas fee). Funding may require depositing funds into the Coinbase or other currency exchange, or may be facilitate by OpenSea or MoonPay. NFT transactions 3. Connect your wallet to the GoodArtDAO.org website, or if purchasing one of the auction parcels on SuperRare, to the SuperRare.com website 4. Click to purchase the NFT, which will trigger a “signature” popup in your chosen web wallet, which will conclude the NFT purchase. (Please note, during periods where the blockchain is being heavily used, gas prices may spike. You can choose to wait until gas prices are lower, or you may pay the higher gas fee to make your purchase on your chosen timeline.)