When we catch up with Fvckrender, one of Canada’s most well-known NFT artists, he’s in Los Angeles. It’s mid-April and the creator has recently skipped town with Baeige (Jo-Anie Charland) and Victor Mosquera: two fellow digital artists who make up part of Vancouver’s burgeoning Web3 ecosystem.

There are two reasons why they're on this trip—one physical, and one mental. The first is to escape the Vancouver rain: “The fucking weather is disgusting,” he says. But his group is not just trying to dodge the downpours. Instead, they have a more meaningful reason for heading stateside. “We rented a pretty big place in West Hollywood,” he shares. “We set up a studio to just create and have fun and remove constraints, and do just anything we want.”

Over the phone, he explains that the trio has been there for around a month. They were set to leave LA in a few weeks with a plan to drive from the City of Angels all the way back to B.C.

Fast-forward a few weeks, and last night, the crew made their way to Vancouver’s Hollywood Theatre. The weather was cooperating—the rain had held off—and locals were taking full advantage, packing themselves into the Kitsilano venue. NFT BC—an art panel and party—had finally arrived, and it felt like almost everyone in Vancouver tech showed up too.

When asked why speaking at the event is important, Fvckrender explains that it’s crucial for people to really understand the NFT space: a growing subsection of Web3, which is part of an ever-evolving iteration of a blockchain-based Internet.

“We're just trying to cut the bullshit and really try to educate people the right way,” he says.

“We have some of the smartest people in the Web3 space that live in Vancouver,” he adds. “We have people like Manifold, the Doodles project, Evan Keast and so many amazing artists.”

Last night’s NFT BC event brought together many of these artists and creators, including Mad Dog Jones, Carmilla Sumantry, Smeccea and Manifold co-founder Richerd.

But beyond the panel participants, the 400-person audience was made up of at least two distinct groups. There were those who had already fallen down the Web3 rabbit hole, and another curious community still taking their first baby-steps into digital art. In our Snapshots series below, we’ve tried to capture personalities from both camps.

Kris Constable, co-founder and CEO of TokenOcean, and Kassandra Linklater, stakeholder engagement and special projects lead at Frontier Collective

Chris Neumann, a partner with Panache Ventures, with Guile Twardowski, the artist behind CryptoKitties.

Nina Kim, Valerie Smaller, Murray Nichol, Barrie Mowatt, founder and president of Vancouver Bienniale, and Nicole Wild

Dan Sutton, CEO of Tantalus Labs/advocate, Weedgang, Kate MacDonald, an artist and Tim Nan, founder of Nifty Royale Inc.

Stu Martin, account director, and Elan Paris, senior associate at Talk Shop

Karm Sumal, CEO of Daily Hive, and Ro, founder of INKFINKS

Snapshot from the second-floor artists’ area.

Members of the Covalent team: Pratik Gandhi, Meltem Algan and Alsie Liu 

Dan Burgar, CEO of Frontier Collective, and Ray Walia, CEO of Launch Ventures

Georgiy Sekretaryuk, parter at Beacon 256, and Rana Taj, founder of Essega

Bahar of Beehouse Dao, Tyler Wells from Simkin (NFT BC co-organizer) and Pam Wells, a teacher

Kennedy Calwell and the three amigos: Victor Mosquera, Fvckrender and Baeige