Hello Near Neighbors,
My name is wana. I am an artist and activator living in the Bay Area. I have also served as a community birthworker, herbalist, and ceremony holder. As a multimodal healing practitioner I have noticed there are many gaps between the traditional visual arts and healing arts and I want to build bridges between these spaces.
As a DAO, we see a world where healing practices - the processes that build them to their fruition - are recognized as are and held in the same esteem as high art/fine art, products and productivity. There are many ways that arts - practices of synthesis and expression - become a tool of healing, and thusly could be integrated into spaces with healing practitioners more visibility. Currently, the rendering of productivity within craft has become decontextualized into its own “product” for audiences to digest as entertainment, rather than as a way to pursue deeper relationship or understanding with the work and/or its creator. In order to truly serve and elevate artists we must share focus and invest sustainably and regeneratively.
While there are opportunities for visual and craft artists to sell their wares in permanent listings or through “pop-up” events rarely are these spaces adapted to support the marketing of contract and service-based workers (i.e. photographers, massage therapists, musicians, etc.) - and the clients looking for them. Service based and healing workers often spend hours completing their pieces and refining their tasks, in isolation and unsupported. Our goal is to build community and infrastructure around these tasks – this space can be a place where we showcase, support growth and community collaboration.
Artists are an essential organ and vital sign of communal care - yet often led out of or deprioritized in community health conversations. Rest is vital to the creation process and stillness often leads to inspiration. We want to take the process out of the shadows and into community.
My co-workers and visioning team, Saman (@Thesamaniist, thesamaniist.near, photographic & videographic archivist) and Alexcia (@sundra, sundra.near, eco-futurist program and production designer/director) are in the process of being onboarded and will have their accounts made up in the next week.
As we initiate Berth DAO we aim to incite and encourage professional development for art and healing craftspeople in shared understandings that our works are fundamental, interconnected, and orbiting.
Location: Bay Area, CA
Vision: To connect the offerings of service-based artists, healers, performers and practitioners in deeper network with each other and broadcast through Web3 portals.
Priority:
- Investment into local economies of care, capital, harm and waste reduction:
- Community care through hosting accessible programming
- Providing reliable development through paid professional opportunities for QTBIPOC craftspeople
- Ecological Mindfulness/Honorable relationships while building sales and exchange.
- Access Autonomy: We look forward to the formal mechanisms of community platforming within the Web3 DAO framework. “FUBU”/For Us By Us sovereignty/decision making.
DAO Address: berth.sputnik-dao.near
‘22 Timeline: Our most immediate timeline moving forward is structured around the organization and publication of a catalog and reference resource listing the offerings of independent artists/healers/performers/practitioners
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August:
- Source funding pathways
- Secure primary funding and supplementary sources as necessary
- Reachout and notify potential community partners
- Preliminary Branding: Logo Graphic Design, Banner graphic design, and Branding package
- Catalog Pre Production:
- Draft of catalog introduction
- Community Call-In:
- Writing an intro letter
- Graphic design for the cover, front flap, table of contents, contributing team, intro. Letter
- Design templates for item listing pages
- Design template for phonebook-style reference resource
- Graphic design for back cover, and back flab
- Draft community Call-In for catalog contributors: making an instagram post, a form for contributions, setting a deadline for submissions and submission review and acceptance letters sent out.
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September:
- In-Person professional development: Product and Meet the Practitioner Photoshoot
- Edit photos taken at professional development event
- Send out photos to artists
- Input contributing artists works
- Working Draft of catalog layout by end of month
- Planning community rejuvenation event
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October
- Catalog finalized for print publishing and NFT minting
- Community rejuvenation event and NFT support conference
- Establishing royalties system
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November
- Catalog Sale and Presale/Sales of in-catalog items
- Distributing royalties
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December:
- In-Person Market and gathering for contributing art/healing craftspeople and community