Panel 2063-1 _ 2335 Chestnut St, San Francisco, CA 94123.jpg

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SaveArtSpace in collaboration with Art Blocks, StreetCode Academy and Philanthropic Ventures Foundation (PVF), are proud to present a month long public art exhibition Generative Generation.

It is often the case with major technology trends like Non Fungible Tokens (NFT’s), that underrepresented populations have historically been left behind and the very last to benefit from these important developments. We aim to close this opportunity gap by bringing this knowledge first to the community of East Palo Alto in the San Francisco Bay Area.

‘Generative Art’ is a revolution in art. It is artwork that is generated by a computer algorithm created by the artist, instead of painted by hand. Computer art has existed since the early days of computing in the 60’s. The exponential advancement of processing power in today’s computers and servers has created a vast toolset for artist to do what was unimaginable decades ago. This ‘generative art’ is sold in a digital form known as an NFT. Art Blocks has been at the forefront of this transformation. It is a first of its kind, a platform focused on programmable and on demand artwork. Both the art and its provenance is stored immutably on the Ethereum Blockchain. Art Blocks is where the most creative artists from around the world gather to offer their editions for sale and where collectors come to buy the pieces that move them. ‘Generative Art’ has come into its own as fine art and is routinely featured at auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

On October 2nd, 2021, two generative artists Dan Calderon and Jake Rockland flew from across the country to conduct a ‘generative art’ education workshop for the students of StreetCode Academy in East Palo Alto. StreetCode Academy is a grassroots nonprofit that mentors and teaches youth, young adults, and community members technological skills for this digital age, including coding, design, and entrepreneurship. The workshop was made possible by donations from Art Blocks and PVF. Some students were familiar with a computer but had no coding experience. While some students had completed basic programming courses, but none of the students had used code to create art.

Dan and Jake walked the students through the basics of how to write a program to draw shapes on the screen, then how to change its colors, change the width of the lines, and then how to animate the shapes. The students learned that these simple building blocks could be combined. The combinations built on top of each other to produce more interesting and complex images. From there, the students were ready to run, and to soar. They were given 10 simple templates to choose amongst, these templates referenced the style of 10 different Art Blocks artists. These simple models were the starting point to let their imaginations fly. They could change parameters or add code as they wished. They experimented and played to see their creations in real time on the screen. By the end of the class, the students had programmed and generated their own uniquely beautiful works of art.

Most of all, they learned that coding can be more than writing programs or apps, coding can be your paint brush. Coding can be a tool for self expression.

These original works of art created by the software that these students wrote are now coming to you in the form of a public art display on 20 billboards in the Bay Area. This was made possible through the generous donations of 20 Art Blocks collectors. They are underwriting the cost of displaying one artwork, from their individual collection, side by side with the artwork of the students. In addition, thank you to the 10 Art Block artists who have given permission for their collectors to display their work in this way.

Imagine one of the young girls, who attended this ‘generative art workshop,” pointing at the original art she created which is now on a billboard bigger than life, and saying to her proud parents and friends, “I did that. This is what I want to do.” We aim to transform the arc of a youth’s life and light the spark for the next generation of generative artists.

If you want to see this for yourself, the powerful beauty of ‘generative art’ from Art Blocks artists and the collections of its passionate collectors, and the immense well of creativity that are in our youths just waiting for an opportunity to be unleashed. Take a drive down our highways and byways and go and see and be inspired by what the #generativegeneration of art looks like.

You can find the billboards at these locations around the Bay Area.

During the week of January 3, 2022, SaveArtSpace launched 20 public art installations for each work on billboard ad spaces throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The public art will be on view for at least one month.

Generative Artists