Nyla Hayes, The 12-Year-Old Who Sold Nearly $4M In NFTs, Becomes TIMEPieces’ First Artist-In-Residence
Nyla Hayes, the creator of the Long Neckie Collection, a non-fungible token (NFT) collection worth about $3.4 million in digital currency — has just been announced as TimePieces’ first artist in residence.
This is a pretty big deal for someone who is just 12 years old.
Nyla is breaking down boundaries and leading the way for young Black people in tech. POCIT has simplified what her role actually means and a bit more about the young creator.
Who is Nyla?
Nyla Hayes is the 12-year-old creator of the Long Neckie Collection, which features diverse women with elongated necks inspired by her favorite dinosaur, the Brontosaurus.
She is also the founder of NFT Children’s Day.
“I started drawing at 4. When I was 9, my parents got me a smartphone to make digital art,” she previously told TIME for Kids.
“I made drawings of people with long necks, which I call Long Neckies. This past March, my uncle told my mom about NFTs. We watched YouTube to learn how to create and sell them. Soon, people were buying NFTs of my Long Neckies. I have made more than 960 ETH. (That’s digital currency worth about $3.4 million.) Being part of the NFT community is amazing!”
What is an artist in residence?
According to the TIME’s Website, they said: “Created to provide artists with the essentials needed to advance their careers through NFTs, TIMEPieces will select an Artist-in-Residence quarterly to develop an intimate, focused collection of art in addition to the larger initiatives featured in the Build a Better Future Genesis Collection.
“These Artist-in-Residence collections will continue to allow TIME to bring art onto the blockchain that marries the artist’s signature style with a renowned TIME franchise. This extends TIME’s nearly 100-year tradition of highlighting great artists and photographers of a given era while leading the brand into new innovative spaces—in this case NFT’s and Web3.”
When will Nyla’s collection be revealed?
Nyla’s collection will drop on November 17th, 2021 for holders of TIMEPieces and TIMECats.
Has she worked with TIME before?
She was featured in the latest issue of TIME for Kids, whose cover story explored NFT’s in an age-appropriate way, and also recently featured on a TIME article on Teen Artists within the NFT space.