BCharity began in June 2021 as a government-sponsored project commissioned by ECSSEN Career School, a registered non-profit seeking to help immigrant and low-income families in Calgary, Alberta.
Our most recent project is the NFT Art Showdown, a free virtual workshop taking place in three sessions, from July 23 to July 27. This workshop was inspired by our vision here at BCharity to empower charities and NGOs to tap into alternative fundraising, while giving young artists the chance to improve their digital art skills. We were lucky enough to invite the youth artist Koi (known as @pocaarii on Instagram), boasting a 121,000 user following on Instagram and student leaders well-versed in the tech and NFT space to attend the event as well.
On day one, Friday, July 23rd, the workshop kicked off with a presentation from BCharity’s own marketing consultants, who discussed the basics of NFTs. After the presentation, BCharity’s team lead software developer introduced how to make NFTs using BCharity’s own NFT Marketplace Website. Then, Koi took over, showing basic features on MediBang Paint and discussing the basics of art, such as the importance of colour palettes, themes and filters. This introduction was a great mix of NFTs, blockchain and digital art content.
On day two, Sunday, July 25th, BCharity’s marketing consultants started off the day by discussing fundraising using NFTs as well as general strategies and information about fundraising. Then, a guest speaker Pavel Sinelnikov from the block-chain startup Metis spoke about decentralized finance as well as the risks associated with it. Each participant was then given the opportunity to work on their NFTs under the supervision of Koi and we received many more submissions as participants became more confident with digital art.
We are currently looking forward to day three, Tuesday, July 27th. The schedule for day three would start off with guest speaker Youssef El Mays, who is a youth working at NDAX.io, a Canadian cryptocurrency branding platform. Then Koi would continue mentoring workshop participants until they finished their artwork. Participants’ art would be submitted to the art competition and winners would be chosen. Competition categories include Popular Vote, Panel Decision, and Highest Sale. Winners of these categories will receive 100 $GIVE Tokens from BCharity and a choice between a $50 gift card and a Clip Studio Paint License. Additionally, all attendees who participated in every session from July 23rd to July 27th will receive a paid meal via uber eats gift card and 10 $GIVE Tokens. Overall, this workshop is an amazing opportunity to grow on your art abilities and there is still time to register and attend the final session of the workshop!
Finally, a huge thank you to TakingItGlobal and #Rising Youth for generously supporting this project. Without their help this never would have been possible.
