Home

Medusa Collection

NFTs for Good

The Medusa Collection is a set of 2,500 unique NFTs by artist Mieke Marple on the Ethereum blockchain. The collection is a large scale artwork + restorative history + fundraiser that dedicates 25% of all sales to Steven Van Zandt’s national education non-profit TeachRock.org.

View on OpenSea

Medusa Collection

About the Art

The Medusa Collection is based on Marple’s paintings of canonical Italian sculptures of Medusa, spanning 1545 to 1805. Marple started this series in 2019 when she discovered that —  according to Ovid’s Metamorphoses from 8 AD — Medusa had been raped by the god Poseidon and then turned into a monster by his wife, the god Athena.

The Collection is made using a combination of analog and digital techniques. A randomizing algorithm generates each Medusa, which is a unique combination of these techniques and traits. None of the 2,500 are alike.

Read Marple’s “Medusa and Me” Essay

Restorative History

Medusa was punished for being a rape survivor. Yet this is rarely part of the story we learn. Medusa’s story felt indicative of the way countless groups are marginalized in the tales we take for granted as “history.” Through the Medusa Collection, Marple reframes Medusa 10,000 times, turning her from an antagonist to be feared into a protagonist to be cheered and sympathized with. 

The carbon footprint of the Medusa Collection will be offset through creol.io.

While each Medusa is unique:

  • Some are rare
  • Some are extremely rare
  • And some categorically exceptional

2,500 Medusas

Rarity

8 Head Types
10 Backgrounds
19 Skin Colors
4 Shadow Colors
10 Paint Gestures
5 Tattoos
4 Face Features
11 Vanitas Objects
4 Head Features
200 Inverted Medusas
10 Noir Medusas
4 Hosmer Medusas

Who is TeachRock.org

Launched by Steven Van Zandt and Founders Board of Bono, Jackson Browne, Martin Scorsese, and Bruce Springsteen, Teachrock.org provides free, standards-aligned educational resources to nearly 1 million students annually.

There are places in the United States where more than 40% of students don’t finish high school. In some communities, 60% of that 40% of students will later serve time in prison. Research shows that if a student likes one class or establishes a meaningful bond with a single teacher, that student is likely to keep coming to school.

TeachRock empowers teachers to harness the excitement and energy of art and music to engage their students and keep them coming back.

Roadmap

25%

Complete Medusa Reconsidered educational resources at TeachRock.org

50%

Sponsors a full year of engagement for 4 TeachRock partner school districts

Five Medusa prints by Marple will be given away to 5 random Medusa NFT holders

75%

Sponsors a full-year of engagement for 6 TeachRock partner school districts

One 40x30 in. Medusa painting by Marple will be given away to a random Medusa NFT holder

Launch World Mythology curriculum on TeachRock.org, which will include various African and Indigenous mythologies, in addition to Greco-Roman lore

100%

Sponsors a full-year of engagement for 8 TeachRock partner school districts.

Completes World Mythology video resources to be freely available on TeachRock.org

One 70x54 in. Medusa painting by Marple and an autographed Stevie Van Zandt guitar will be given away to 2 random Medusa NFT holders

Launch Medusa Fund in support of work that is innovative, heartfelt, and challenging

Marple begins her next generative NFT project, which all Medusa NFT holders will get for free.

The Team

Mieke Marple (she/her)
Creator & Artist
@miekemarple

Mieke Marple is an artist and writer living in Los Angeles. She is interested in the intersection of mythology, power, and commerce through a feminist, social-emotional lens.

Marple has been written about by The New York Times, W Magazine, The Guardian, The Art Newspaper, Autre, among other publications. She has had recent solo exhibitions at Ever Gold [Projects] in SF and 1301PE in LA. Through various charity art auctions, she has helped raise over a million dollars for Planned Parenthood LA and a quarter million for prison abolitionist organization Critical Resistance. Marple was also co-owner of Night Gallery, Los Angeles, 2011-2016.

Bill Carbone

Bill Carbone
Executive Director TeachRock
@billcarbone

Educator, Musician and Arts Integration Warrior

Imani Wilson

Imani Wilson (she/her)
Director of Media & Culture Strategy

Writer & Choir Member

Carly Gorra

Carly Gorra
Media & Culture Coordinator

Video Editor, Filmmaker, and Freelance Photographer

Cody Edison

Cody Edison
Lead Community Manager
@CodyEdison1

Artist and NFT collector in Los Angeles, CA

What
NFT Advisor
@whatthewhat4

Violeta Valcheva

Violeta Valcheva
Community Manager
@violette_marin

Freelance filmmaker, creative producer, and choreographer. Community Leader at DoinGudHQ and founder of VVs Productions.

Adrian Marple

Adrian Marple
Art Generator Dev
@marplebot

Indie game developer with CS and UX programming background. Creator of Obversion, Cooperative Chess, and Metasweeper (upcoming).

Tony Hauber

Tony Hauber
Smart Contract Dev
@thauber

Software developer, producer of old-school arcade cabinets for his DeathBall video game, and creator of upcoming NFT-based webgame Nifty Villages.

Jason Martin

Jason Martin
Website Dev


Digital Media Guru, Entrepreneur, Dad.

Medusa Collection is pleased to partner with Endaoment, a tax-exempt Community Foundation built for the crypto industry and focused on social impact, and the first US 501(c)3 non-profit organization established on the blockchain.

Special thanks to
 Andrew McClintock, Kyle Gordon, Stephanie Elle Quintana

Email inquiries to:
info@medusacollection.io