Black talents are breaking boundaries and making great strides in STEM, joining the league of brilliant minds in tech is Nyla Hayes, creator of the Long Neckie Collection, a non-fungible token (NFT) Long Neckie Collection worth about $3.4 million in digital currency. What’s more? Nyla who landed on the cover of TIME was recently has announced as TimePieces’ First Artist-in-residence.
The Long Neckie Collection, a fine art, hand-drawn, computer generated collectible of 3333 diverse females with elongated neck’s, that are designed to leave a lasting impression is inspired by Nyla’s favorite dinosaur, the brontosaurus.
Hayes, a strong believer in building an army of successful people founded NFT Children’s Day to help other kids launch careers in the emerging tech space.
Recalling how it all started, she says:
“I started drawing at 4. When I was 9, my parents got me a smartphone to make digital art,” she 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,” she explained. “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!”
As part of responsibility given her role, as TIMEPiece’s first Artist-in-Residence, Hayes will help develop “an intimate, focused collection of art” and work toward other initiatives featured in its Build a Better Future Genesis Collection.
“These Artist-in-Residence collections will continue to allow TIME to bring art on to the blockchain that marries the artist’s signature style with a renowned TIME franchise,” the company said in a statement. “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.”
Hayes’ collection will be released on Nov. 17, 2021, to TIMEPieces and TIMECats holders.
