[Los Angeles, California] The 3D creator economy for the metaverse, MoNA launches today with the unveiling of its Future Gallery, a network of interconnected virtual spaces that provides NFT artists with the opportunity to display their work in its original high-resolution and high-fidelity format, and sell directly to buyers. To mark the launch, MoNA has partnered with a number of celebrated NFT artists, including Foodmasku, Dario De Siena, Alex Maceda, Taylor.WTF, Marc-O-Matic, and Mlibty (Marko Zubak), to curate unique collections for the MoNA Future Gallery.
MoNA is the creation of trailblazers in the NFT movement, including CEO Justin Melillo, the stage designer behind Drake’s Aubrey & the Three Migos tour, and Charli XCX’s Reputation tour with Taylor Swift. In his previous roles at Magic Leap and DreamWorks Animation, Melillo helped build the world’s first AR digital human AI and a volumetric capture experience with the Royal Shakespeare Company. An industry expert in augmented reality (AR) experiences, Melillo has collaborated with household name musicians, such as Sia, Lizzo, Pearl Jam, Cardi B, and Maroon 5.
Commenting on the launch, Melillo said, “At MoNA, we are enabling the fusion of NFT art with the exhibition experience. Today 3D artists create incredible work, but they can’t display it properly. Existing metaverses are low-quality, and low-resolution and artists can’t display their artwork in its true light. Artists must compress their work in order to display it, thus devaluing their creations. MoNA allows artists to build, share, and sell high-fidelity experiential art through the creator economy. The aim is to allow creators to create without constraint. Art breaks barriers, and we want to remove all barriers in the art creation process.”
MoNA’s co-founders helm from Hollywood, AAA Gaming, and AR, including CTO Alex Patin, a Harvard Innovation Fellow and early builder in the Ethereum space. COO Matt Hoerl, is the Co-Founder of the Arch Mission Foundation, where he managed five space missions with SpaceX, Blue Origin, and SpaceIL. He has also worked on post-production for shows on top networks in the U.S., including AMC, the History Channel, and Discovery.
Before scheduling a Gallery opening and inviting collectors, artists, and the public, MoNA tokenizes assets on IPFS, a peer-to-peer network and protocol designed to make the web faster, safer, and more open. Artwork is then listed on OpenSea, the largest marketplace for NFTs where artists and patrons can create, buy, sell, and discover unique digital assets.
Backed by Protocol Labs, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Filecoin, and Tachyon, MoNA’s vision is to unlock new revenue streams for artists and higher economic value for their work by creating social spaces designed around art.
Participating in the 3D creator economy on MoNA, artists can:
* Create - Build a customized gallery using a creation tool of choice, like Blender, Cinema 4D, or Unity.
* Gather - Travel into a gallery with friends when and how they want.
* Experience - Immerse themselves in high-quality art in one click.
Supporting the development up to launch, MoNA was financed through its participation in the Filecoin Launchpad Accelerator, Powered by Tachyon. Offering funding, advice, and support for startups building the core components for DeFi 2.0, NFT 2.0, the Metaverse, and the core infrastructure for Web3, the program was essential in MoNA’s development.
Colin Evran, Ecosystem Lead at Protocol Labs, commented, “MoNA is a stellar showcase of the world-class talent participating in the Filecoin Launchpad Accelerator. Selected as one of 20 exemplary teams utilizing Web3 technologies such as IPFS, Filecoin, and Ethereum, to participate in the virtual demo day for Tachyon 5: Filecoin Launchpad Accelerator II, MoNA is an example of the businesses leading the next wave of the open, interoperable, and decentralized web.”
