LEA announce 20-sim deal with LL

Posted on by Inara Pey

The Linden Endowment of the Arts (LEA) have announced they have secured 20 sims from Linden Lab to promote the arts in Second Life.

The LEA Land Grant will make the sims available to the LEA for a 12 month period. These sims will be used as follows:

  • Two sims will be allocated via a Land Rush
  • Four sims will be reserved for exhibitions curated from LEA sandbox builds
  • Fourteen sims to be allocated on the basis of an application process, which closes on November 1st 2011.

The fourteen sims to be allocated on the basis of an application process will be made available to successful applicants for periods of five months before being transferred to the next set of awardees. Details on how the Land Rush and 4 “sandbox promotion” sims are to be allocated and for how long, have yet to be mad public by the LEA.

Separate

This deal, it would appear, is entirely separate from Mark Kingdon’s announcement, made in 2009, that some 70 sims would be made available within Second Life as a part of an effort to support the arts. At that time, given the amount of private effort – with absolutely no subsidy from Linden Lab  – that goes into supporting art and creativity in Second Life, Mark Kingdon’s announcement caused a fair amount of concern as to what such a grant would do to such privately funded efforts in support of the arts.

At risk: privately funded art support?

While this announcement from the LEA is smaller, it is likely that it will give rise to similar concerns, particularly given the superb work performed by the likes of Art Screamers in their promotion of sim-sized installations such as Through the Lens of Dreams, and other exhibits which are met entirely out of the sim owners’ own pockets.

Weakens?

Which is not to say the LEA do not provide stunning installations themselves – again as witnessed by Rebeca Bashly’s brilliant and immersive Inferno equally demonstrates. Even so, arrangements such as this – as well-meaning as they might be – do create an imbalance in the SL art community, which is still very much a limited pool of talent. If that talent is fully engaged in LEA efforts, then there is a risk that those who privately fund art activities may well be faced with no other option that to consider shutting down. This in turn potentially weakens art in SL on two fronts:

  • It reduces the number of venues available in which those not selected for such grants can display their work and talent
  • It runs the risk of what constitutes “art” for wider consumption within Second Life being defined by a small, closed group within SL – again leading to potentially fractious accusations of the infamous “feted inner circle” variety rumbling across the community.

The flip side to this is that it might be said that many aspiring artists within Second Life might be presented with a chance to gain an audience through their participation in the Grant. A chance that might otherwise elude them if they had to rely on other means of promotion.

For those wishing to participate in the LEA Land Grant, the application requirements are available on their website via the link above. All applicants must be familiar with, and agree to abide by, the SL Terms of Service, Community Standards and the LEA Code of Conduct in order to participate in the programme.

Published by Inara Pey

Eclectic virtual world blogger with a focus on Second Life, VR, virtual environments and technology.

6 thoughts on “LEA announce 20-sim deal with LL”

  1. Second Life has a huge amount of artists, many of whom don’t have the resources to pay tier for a sim. I think there’s plenty of room for venues like Art Screamers and L.E.A. to cooperate in patronizing the creations of SL’s vitual artists-in-need, and this should be encouraged instead of fomenting unnecessary dissension and drama. I think it’s high time for this development, some two and half years after M’s announcement (that may very well have been a major reason for his abrupt departure.)

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    1. I don’t think Inara was “formenting unneessary dissension and drama.” To the contrary, she is doing what she always does – raise important issues in a neutral and informed way. I very much appreciate her writing and the work she does.

      I am very much in support of LL supporting the arts and providing sims. At the same time I would like to see them support patrons of the arts by reducing our tier so that we can continue to provide top SL artists land, prims and our ability to market their work. As you correctly point out, there are lots of artists who need and merit support.

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    1. I’m actually personally neutral on the matter. As this blog shows, I’ve covered – and will continue to cover – art-related events that are both LEA and privately sponsored.

      That said, the original announcement from Mark Kingdon did polarise the community when it was made. As shown via Twitter, there has been what appears to be negative feedback on this announcement. It’s sad when this happens, but it is pretty much something that goes hand-in-hand with the passion people have for Second Life.

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  3. Pingback: 20 Sim Arts Grant For LEA Makes Me Uncomfortable » Ciaran Laval

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