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Image for article titled No Outlet for Creatives in His Neighborhood, So He Built One
Photo: Greg Travers

From there, you move on to The Oasis, an event space and NFT gallery that features technology that helps artists and art lovers to interact with the digital space. “I didn’t think that the digital space was necessarily approachable, especially when it came to the blockchain, NFTs and stuff like that,” Roberts said. “I created a sculpture called the seed pod, which is a display system with digital touch screens, nooks and shelves in each wall that really makes sense for NFTs.”

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The Oasis event space and digital art gallery
The Oasis event space and digital art gallery
Photo: Author

Something that sets The Oasis apart from other NFT galleries is the partnership with Infinite Objects, a company that makes frames for digital prints. “When you mint an NFT, you get a physical item even if the artist doesn’t have merchandise. So you always walk away with something,” he said.

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Roberts’ vision for SEED includes giving back to the Bed-Stuy community, with general classes on entrepreneurism, freelancing, and more. “I want to bring in lawyers to talk about LLCs for protecting creative assets,” he said.

Image for article titled No Outlet for Creatives in His Neighborhood, So He Built One
Photo: Greg Travers
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If you can’t make it to Bed-Stuy to visit SEED Brklyn, you can still connect with the space on their website, where a lot of fashion and collectibles are for sale. “We’re building a global brand, so we put a lot of energy into the e-commerce site,” he said. To have a fair fight, we have to be just as resilient on the web as we are in person.”

As Roberts prepares to share SEED with Bed-Stuy and the rest of the world, he hopes to inspire other artists to create. “Seed is inspired by my journey, the landscape around me and the needs of it,” he said.