World’s First NFT Museum Opens in Seattle 

Regardless of peoples’ opinions about them, NFTs are everywhere these days. Top collections are raking in billions of dollars in sales, they are being used more by mainstream institutions, and their public visibility has never been higher. 

Because of all this success, more products are being developed to cater to the industry and its specific needs. Take the recent opening of an NFT museum in Seattle which marks the first time that a museum has been created and solely dedicated to displaying NFTs. 

NFTs at the Museum 

The museum in question, simply called the Seattle NFT Museum, opened earlier this year and says that its goal is to  “pull back the curtain” on NFTs and make them more accessible to the public. 

Then there is the benefit that it offers for artists. Many more creators are releasing their works as NFTs and this museum gives them a chance to exhibit their NFTs in a physical space. 

“We really realized the impact of being able to look at this type of art in a way where you actually slow down, you see all the details,” says Jennifer Wong, a co-founder and curator at the Museum.

One of the museum’s most recent exhibitions was held for artist Maksim Surguy on April 16, 2022. The exhibition was titled ‘Climate Conversation’ and showed Surguy’s works as NFTs that can also be printed physically. 

As the artist explains, the NFT museum blurs the lines between physical and digital art while offering more options to buyers. Now, they don’t have to be restricted to only accessing the art in physical or digital form and can enjoy both.

Then there is the demystifying of the industry itself. A lot of people who are not heavily involved in NFTs only know them as internet concepts and have never interacted with one.

Now that this physical museum exists, they can see NFTs for themselves and get a better understanding of the industry.

As Peter Hamilton, a co-founder of the museum, says, “I can’t emphasize enough how important the educational part of this museum is. We’re trying to onboard folks and help them see what the value of NFTs are and help people pull back the curtain a little bit on what blockchain is and what its utility is.”

Moving forward, the museum hopes to host even more exhibitions and continue to educate the public about NFTs.

NFTs in the Art World

One of the most common uses of NFTs is for the selling of art. Over the last few years, NFTs have become a viable way for both larger and smaller independent artists to earn an income. 

But the advent of NFTs also created a bit of a rift between ‘traditional’ artists who exhibited in museums and galleries and those who were strictly NFT artists. With this new NFT museum, artists and art buyers can have the best of both worlds. 

Not only does this create more access to everyone but also shows that NFTs can co-exist with the traditional art world.