Smartstarter projects use an all-or-nothing model driven by smart contracts – connecting backers with their supporters.
Rewards like NFTs, physical goods, or acknowledgments may be offered but are not guaranteed.
If the funding goal isn’t reached in time, all contributions are automatically refunded to backers.
Project Story
🎨 Coal to Canvas
Reviving Appalachian Roots — One Song, One Craft, One NFT at a Time.
The Appalachian region is often portrayed through a lens of poverty and decline —
🚫 forgotten coal towns,
💊 opioid headlines,
🌄 economic isolation.
But here in our hills and hollers lives something deeper:
🌿 resilience, ✨ beauty, and 🧵 a lineage of artistry passed from hand to hand, porch to porch.
👩🌾 Who Are We?
We are Coal to Canvas —
a grassroots collective of artists, makers, farmers, and musicians from West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Tennessee.
🏔️ Many of us come from coal-mining families and working-class roots.
We’re not a nonprofit or startup —
just neighbors honoring the old ways while forging new paths forward.
🎯 What We're Doing
We're building a community-powered platform to revive and preserve Appalachian art — both physical and digital — and ensure it lives on for future generations.
🔨 Our Goals:
- 🏚️ Convert a retired coal miner’s barn into a rural arts hub and micro-studio
- 📚 Digitally document 25 endangered crafts & songs, including:
→ dulcimer-making 🎶
→ moonshine storytelling 🥃
→ heirloom seed quilting 🌱
→ blacksmithing 🔨 - 🔗 Create a Cardano-based digital archive issuing limited-edition NFTs of:
→ art pieces 🖼️
→ voice recordings 🎤
→ visual motifs 🧶
— letting global supporters “own” a piece of our cultural DNA - 👵👦 Launch a youth apprenticeship program pairing elders with local teens to pass down:
→ weaving 🧵
→ glassblowing 🔥
→ folk music 🎻 - 🚌 Host a traveling exhibition through Appalachia’s forgotten towns
— and mirror it on ReaFino’s blockchain for digital permanence 💻
🗣️ Why It Matters
This isn’t just about art.
It’s about reclaiming narrative sovereignty.
📢 For too long, people have spoken about Appalachia without listening to Appalachians.
This is our time to speak, sing, carve, and code.
From coal to canvas — the story continues.
Risks & Challenges
Rural internet may delay digital uploads; we'll use offline-first tools Some elder artists are wary of “NFTs” — we’re framing it as digital preservation and dignity Weather, health, or transport issues in remote areas can delay documentation We have backup timelines, peer mentors, and flexible workflows that honor artists’ pace rather than forcing deadlines.
coal2canvas
hello@coal2canvas.org
We’re Coal to Canvas — a collective of artists, makers, musicians, and storytellers rooted in the Appalachian mountains. From West Virginia to Eastern Kentucky, our work is born from coal towns, handmade quilts, banjo strings, and passed-down family stories. We're not a company or nonprofit — just folks from the hills who believe our heritage deserves a future. Through handcraft, digital storytelling, and on-chain preservation, we’re keeping Appalachian culture alive, proud, and evolving — one stitch, one song, one NFT at a time.