A few years back, I met a child about 10 years old. I noticed he was shoving away his doodles inside his backpack while sharing an Uber ride with me. This was back in Miami when Uber Pools was still a thing; I assume his parents booked the ride for him. I asked him to let me see his drawings, and we began to have several conversations about art and sketches along the ride. The way he described each drawing and his inspiration behind each sketch made me realize that this child still held the spark and innocence of youth within.

This took me back to when I was in second grade, and most of my time was spent wandering off into doodle land. I recalled drawing X-Men characters with my friend and seeing which of us could make a “cooler” image. The best part was we weren’t competing; once we were done before class ended, we would sign the bottom and hand it over to one another. Over time we had a collection of drawings from each other.

This kid and his doodles made me feel something again… so I decided to tell the driver to pull up to CVS (a pharmacy/store) to buy him a sketchbook with colored pencils. His face lit up and showed his appreciation as if it was Christmas, and this was the gift he was always praying for.

I felt happy and inspired by this moment but still wasn't aware of what this moment was teaching me.

A few years passed, and I saw this child again, although now, this child is a teenager, aiming to grow from 13 to 21 in a few months. His mind worked differently, and his thoughts had changed. His spark was a bit misled and had unfortunately changed course.

I asked him excitedly, "Do you still draw? Let me check out your sketches!"

His response was the part where I noticed something.

“No, I’ve been thinking about getting a job at Publix (a local grocery store). I need to think of how I’m going to make money to buy things because my parents can’t buy things I want.”

I didn’t know exactly what to say at this point, but I felt a pain of sorts.

It is almost as if the child part left and the inspiration became a need.

Once again, I was taken back to when I was a teenager, and I was faced with financial hardships that forced me to let go of creativity. My thoughts were more financially driven due to necessity instead of inspiration. I realized I didn’t want this kid to face the same outcomes I had to go through.  

Unfortunately, I did not have the proper guidance to give him a solution. The only words I could form were, “I understand, but please don’t let go of your gift.”

I went home that evening, and as I replayed that moment, I kept thinking about how different my life would have been if only I had the proper tools, mentorship, or access to information my family or environment couldn’t provide. At the time, I was left clueless about solving this problem but, this moment never left my heart.

Fast forward to late 2021, while I started acquiring and trading NFTs, I had an epiphany after hearing a few artists speak, some as young as 13. I mentally came back to that moment and realized something:

This is a problem, and NFTs can help solve this issue.

I thought to myself, what if when I initially met this kid, I had the ability to show and guide him, along with the proper tools and equipment, exactly how to bring his visions to life and launch them as NFTs?

He would have been able to let his imagination run wild and keep his passion flowing.

I dove deep as possible into the NFT and Web3 space. Learning as much as I could and realizing a solution to this problem. With this thought in mind, I decided to launch gyzr.art.

I wanted to see if I could gather a few friends in the space, such as artists, musicians, DJs, directors, film guys, and anyone in the creative realm, to help bring this project to life.

Every month we would find a child who lacks the tools or may require equipment, who needs information or mentorship but has yet to lose that PASSION within.

We guide them along with the help and permission of their families to create, sell, and launch their work on a platform that can financially build their futures.

I mean, think of that creative person working a desk job, but that desk job was never really their calling, therefore never letting their dreams come to life because of ‘Money.’

I decided this was my calling. It resonated with me. I figured I’d help this mission become a reality and wanted to ask a few other NFT artists: Their responses were jaw-dropping. They all asked how to get involved.

If you resonated with this story and would like to be involved with helping young creatives and support the vision of GYZR.art. Follow us on Twitter, where we can discuss the next steps together as we build a home and hub for young creatives.