Natalie Stone is an executive producer who has helped shape some of the most influential moments in digital art. From stewarding the legacy of CryptoPunks to producing immersive exhibitions with NODE Foundation, her work bridges art, technology, and culture with care and intention. Known for bringing artists and engineers into meaningful collaboration, she focuses on translating ideas across disciplines and preserving the stories that define this era of creativity.

This interview took place at the Hotel Saint George Hall during Art Blocks Marfa Weekend, where Natalie Stone reflected on community, legacy, and the growing desire to bring digital work into the physical world.

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

OpenSea: So let's start out with just an introduction to you.

Natalie Stone: Hey, I am Stone. I'm an executive producer and a consultant working in art and technology, and I recently founded a consultancy called Stonework.

OpenSea: You've spent your career bringing artists and engineers into the same room. What makes a collaboration between the worlds of art and technology really work?

Natalie Stone: What's really exciting about this moment in time where technology and art are colliding is that artists across time have always been looking for new tools. With the advent and rapid rise of new tools, that's what technology offers artists. Imagine if a new color was discovered, which actually recently just happened, or there was a new color crayon in the coloring box.

OpenSea: So what got you started on the journey of wanting to bring artists and engineers together?

Natalie Stone: When I think about my journey and why I saw the opportunity in bringing artists and engineers together, every producer, executive producer, every generalist, has had a long and winding road. I really started in art. That's what I studied in school and that's what I spent my time doing, but I didn't really realize that there were jobs and opportunities in that space. Then I moved to music and there's a bit more dialogue there between technology and art. Ever since Bob Dylan and the electric guitar broke and changed where rock and roll went. I was witnessing the opportunity there, obviously in stage design and production. And then finally when I went to Google, I almost didn't want to accept the job. They brought me on because they wanted to create more culture in the experiences that they were working on. And I had this moment where I started working with engineers and I had a bias. I thought, oh, this isn't creative. And then I realized that actually some of these coders and engineers are some of the most creative people that I've ever known. And so I realized that I had this unique ability to be a conduit that was translating these conversations. The opportunity just presented itself and revealed itself, and I've just been chasing the carrot ever since and following where that carrot took me.

OpenSea: It's so interesting. You're right that some of the most creative people are people who are solving problems with technology. Finding creative solutions to those problems.

Natalie Stone: And I think that's what's so interesting specifically about the artists that I'm working with, which is Larva Labs. They [Matt Hall and John Watkinson] and I both worked at Google together, which is always such a funny thing. It wasn't where we met. But there's something in the DNA of that startup Silicon Valley culture that does foster creativity, but their practice is rooted fundamentally in solving problems. A white empty canvas or a blank page actually is very daunting to them. They need a problem to solve. They need a limit to push up against. I think that's actually very true for creativity and artists in general and actually in this moment in time while our world is changing and evolving, what it means to be human is evolving. There's such a great political divide. There's such a great social divide. It's actually such a ripe opportunity for some of the great art of our time to be made. The conditions are there: limitations, constraints, something to rebel against.

OpenSea: You've described technology before as a way to enhance enduring legacies. How do you decide on what feels like the right moment to invest in a new technology versus saying this is not really additive to the process?

Natalie Stone: When I think about suggesting technology, I think I'm a strategic person in some way, but in an interesting way my strategy is just listening and reading the room and trying to do that with presence and focus. So I'm never trying to force a new tool or force a solution onto something. I'm actually more just looking at what's available, looking at what the artist wants to accomplish, looking at what might be in the gap, and trying to pull those threads together. I think that might be my superpower. It's less about bringing what I want to the table and more about being a mirror for what's there and trying to just be that little voice saying, “Hey, have you thought about this?” It really comes first from a place of deep listening and presence.

OpenSea: At CryptoPunks, you oversaw one of the most influential digital art collections. What does cultural stewardship look like in our era of blockchain?

Natalie Stone: The most important thing with cultural stewardship is twofold. I think one is about legibility and how the story is being told, communicated to different audiences so that it's clear so that people understand what CryptoPunks is. You have to think about tailoring that answer to different types of people who might have different inroads into the technology, into the art, into the community. I'd say that's one really important aspect of stewardship. The second piece of it is actually documentation and archival work. Yes, it's permanent on the blockchain, but so much has been lost. I talked about this when I worked on the CryptoPunks book. There are these little stories that exist in different edges and ether of this world, on social media. And I sometimes think that stewardship is just making sure that those little stories and threads don't get lost and that they're preserved. And I think that's really important to bring rigor and seriousness and care to the process of archiving and preservation.

OpenSea: There is something almost primal in us about wanting to create a physical book of something.

Natalie Stone: Yeah, it's interesting. Matt, John, and I always talk about how our parents didn't know what we did for a living. They still don't seem to really understand, but the book, the CryptoPunks Free to Claim book, really seemed to legitimize us in a way. What's also interesting here in the state of digital art, of onchain art, of protocol art, is that you're seeing this deeper desire for physicals generally. And to me it's the signal that the space is maturing and wants to think about communicating to broader audiences beyond the screen. There is something so important about physicality, physical representations of your work exhibitions. I mean, you see it with NODE, you see it here in Marfa. There's also a trend moving towards translating this moment in time, this renaissance into something tangible for new audiences and maybe for future audiences.

OpenSea: Absolutely. So you've said Stonework was built for the like-hearted and different-minded. What kinds of collaborations or technologies excite you most in the context of your work at Stonework?

Natalie Stone: Everything's a little all over the place right now. I mean, I'm excited about everything in every single way simultaneously. Obviously working with Matt and John is such an incredible honor and the fact that they're working on new generative work is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling to be a part of, not only protecting a legacy as I did with CryptoPunks, preserving it, expanding it, but then thinking about building a new legacy with Larva [Labs]. I'm also working on immersive experiences with some major artists. I'm thinking a lot about physical space with NODE and some upcoming work that we have with exhibitions. So I wish I had one single answer of what I'm most excited about. I’m excited by how different every artist I work with is, how distinct their practices are, and how varied what they put into the world can be, from ThankYouX to Radiohead to Larva Labs to NODE. My days are all very different and I'm having a lot of different conversations. Maybe what's most interesting is that the kaleidoscope of what's being created and made in the world is quite beautiful to be peering into and through right now.

OpenSea: What does it mean to you to be here this weekend? How do you feel about it? Anything from the environment of being around these people to the actual physical landscape. What does it bring up for you?

Natalie Stone: I've always been a popular loner. I don't have trouble making friends or acquaintances, but I seem to move through life floating through different groups and never really anchoring into one. I'm sure there's some childhood trauma from high school there or something. And I think what's been super profound over the last maybe two years of being in this community is that this actually is my community. This is a place where everybody knows your name and I feel welcomed and a sense of belonging. I didn't even know that I really needed it. Because I've never had trouble making friends, but somehow I don't think I've ever felt I had found my tribe. Nerdy, arty, weird, geeky, strange, welcoming, maybe loners in their own right. And I think it's really special to have found that. And I think that's what Marfa means to me. There's some aspect of coming home to a sense of place that is deep.

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