TL;DR

Council recommendation: Positive 🙂

What

Part of the collection will soon be transferred under the custody of The Sandbox DAO, this collection will require to be actively managed and oriented toward an objective of cultural significance and financial sustainability. You have the choice to give a mandate to the curator and collection manager that will endorse the responsibility of implementing a roadmap to reach said goals.

Why

The rationale behind hiring the service of external advisors and curators to oversee those assets is the benefit of setting up a system working for the benefit of the collection valorisation and sustainability, as any good system the SANDBOX DAO collection should aim to become a whole greater than the sum of its parts and therefore becoming an important cultural lever for the community of the DAO.

How

The collection manager and curator will evaluate the existing collection and implement a buying and selling strategy with a curated angle for the collection and valorize those acquisitions through a dedicated quarterly off line exhibition and catalog. The budget requested is 30000€ from the NFT Treasury.

When

Last quarter of 2024 (only one concerned by the mandate). Starting in September we should decide which assets are worth transferring into the custody of the DAO Wallet conjointly deciding which of those assets should be loaned, sold or exchanged to constitute the budget for the first wave of acquisition of artworks from both primary and secondary market of this year. An exhibition should be organized by the end of the quarter to showcase the work newly acquired.

Who

Arthemort: https://linktr.ee/Arthemort Grida: https://x.com/bygrida

SIP Details

Problem Description

Following an audit realized by Jean Michel Pailhon (founder of Grail Capital & Advisor for the DAO), it appears clear that the current composition of the asset within the future DAO collection is too heavily reliant on one category of the NFT Market: Profile Picture (PFP) Collectible.

Out of the 14,233 assets to be held by the DAO 98% of them are either collectible or PFP. However, this market category of NFT has had by far the biggest fall in volume and value of transactions since the start of the bear market whereas the Art category has proven much more resilient over the same period.

Some of the community behind those collectibles have been onboard to the Sandbox and we aim to keep them involved. However, at heart, The Sandbox is a company that aims to support independent creators and it seems only logical that the DAO collection acquires work from independent artists.

Reorienting the collection from a random accumulation of collectibles and other on-chain assets to a curated art collection appears more aligned with the community value and will prove beneficial on the mid/long term.

The Sandbox has been continuously expanding its NFT collection by acquiring Onchain assets. Recognizing the importance of Digital art curatorship, The Sandbox is now seeking experts to manage these initiatives.

Solution Proposed

To ensure the sustainability of the collection, arbitrage is to be made to diversify the collection through the acquisition of Unique artwork (1/1), unique artwork of a series (1/1/X) and editions from WEB3 Native living and deceased artists via the tutelage of professional art collection managers and curators.

Those acquisitions will be fully financed through the liquidity generated by loaning, selling or exchanging existing assets within the collection.

Additionally, by hosting quarterly offline exhibitions, we will showcase The Sandbox Art Collection’s works, introduce the artists, and produce a catalog of the artworks. This will solidify our presence not only in the digital art community but also in the current art scene. These exhibitions will enhance the value of The Sandbox Art Collection and strengthen its connections with the art community.

Through these efforts, The Sandbox Art Collection will go beyond being just an NFT collection and play a significant role in the contemporary art world. We support these activities to ensure that The Sandbox Art Collection grows into a sustainable and culturally significant collection.

Benefits to The Sandbox Ecosystem

Corporate Art collection and what can transpire from it can become an amazing instrument of influence, it's a model well-established across the world. Being the recipient of the Leclerc or Pernault Ricard Foundation price for example, can propel an artist's career and is an amazing tool for the image of the company involved, it strengthens institutional and political relationships that can only benefit further down the line the acceptance of NFTs by governments.

Having a collection that supports The Sandbox community of independent creators as well as being administrated by it will have positive externalities on its ecosystem overall. Down the line, this collection will become a fantastic lever for the community to lobby toward the support of the acceptance of the WEB3 creative and artistic ecosystem as a whole.

Also these activities can significantly impact the traditional art world and creators beyond the blockchain space. They will enhance The Sandbox's image and strengthen its influence not only in the digital art community but also in the broader art scene. As a result, The Sandbox will grow into a sustainable and culturally significant collection, greatly contributing to the overall ecosystem's development.

Risk analysis

The team hired does not offer financial advisory but rather art advisory, the potential risk or downside can be that the artist's works acquired within the mandate might not be liquid on the short-term or profitable investment in the midterm. Although the collection will be more meaningful artistically than it has ever been as well as more diversified which should mitigate any risk related to its profitability. No promises can be made, we can simply offer total transparency and as DAO you will be able to renew your trust in the curation team every year on December 31th if we were to fail your expectations.

However, if any curation members were to be considered unfit to manage the collection because of misconduct or lack of integrity, they should be immediately expelled through the Administrator.

Budget requested

Category: NFT Requested Budget for the team, for 4 months: 30 000€

The Acquisition budget of the collection as well as the budget required for the exhibitions will be entirely self-funded through the loaning or selling of existing NFTs within the collection.

90 Days Plan

|Plan|Completion date| | --- | --- | |#1 Collection Cataloguing and Valuation Estimation of the collection, Catalog dashboard, Estimation of the assets, Ventilation strategy of listing|September 2024| |#2 Loaning and Selling: Private deals, consignment or other, Loan, First Listing|Before October 2024| |#3 First Acquisition Wave: Private deals, Collection offer and bids, Commissioned work|Before November 2024| |#4 Q4 2024 Reporting: AMA session, Reporting Deck, Next quarter priority strategy insight, Quarterly exhibition and related activations|Before End of December 2024|

Team

Link to the full proposal description: https://forum.sandboxdao.com/t/mandate-for-dao-collection-management/647

Credit: Long way to the Moon by Alotta Money