Jeremy Booth, a renowned Western artist and NFT collector, continues to explore new frontiers by bringing more Western artists into the world of Web3. With his experience and expertise, Booth has been instrumental in attracting and promoting talented artists in the digital space. By embracing blockchain technology, these artists can now showcase and sell their unique works with greater transparency, security, and accessibility than ever before. Through his efforts, Booth is helping to shape the future of art and culture in the digital age.
Jeremy Booth is a leading NFT artist who specializes in Western-themed art. He plans to expand the genre by launching the Western Art Dept, which aims to onboard traditional Western artists into the Web3 space while tapping established NFT creators that can pay homage to the genre. The project will debut in early May on the NFT art platform, Foundation. The collection will feature 1-of-1 NFTs from several artists as an opportunity to highlight people’s talent and bring more of the Wild West into the digital space. Booth said, “it’d be really great to see more Western art represented in the space because it’s got a really rich history in the traditional side of art.” Niko Ampouris, social media and community manager at Vayner3, is behind the initiative and will manage its strategic and marketing efforts, while helping with curation.
Booth is best known for creating digital artwork that’s sold as single-edition NFT. However, he launched Boots, an open edition “mint,” earlier this year, and over 6,000 NFTs from the drop were minted within 24 hours. Boots NFTs have thus far tallied 587 ETH, or over $1.2 million worth of total sales volume, according to NFT marketplace OpenSea. Although they were created solely as a digital collectible with an accessible price, Boots’ holders will be able to burn their NFTs—permanently removing them from circulation—to redeem artwork created by other artists and commissioned by the Western Art Dept.
The Western Art Dept. is rooted in conversations Booth had over the past several months with Robert Hagan, a painter that’s been represented in several galleries across the U.S. over his decades-long career. Booth describes Hagan as a legacy artist with a knack for depicting Western-themed landscapes and subjects. The Western Art Dept will give Hagan his own space for a day or two to celebrate the artist’s upcoming foray into the Web3 realm. In the long term, Booth aims to develop relationships with traditional artists and get them onboarded into the NFT world.
Some collectors equate Outlaws, a Western-themed profile picture (PFP) NFT collection, with Booth’s work. The collection was featured as a trending project on NFT marketplace OpenSea and has notched over 2,800 ETH or $5.8 million in total sales volume since its launch. Booth did not interact with the project but expressed his concerns about confusion among prospective collectors who might mistake Outlaws’ project as his. Along with the launch, the artist decided to walk around New York City wearing a custom Wrangler jacket with the Western Art Dept’s name. The jacket was meant to evoke a sense of community, but Booth believes the notion of the Western Art Dept is evolving into something bigger.