Linden Endowment of the Arts Set to Close August 31

In what can only be described as a stunning development for artists and supporters of the arts in Second Life, the Linden Endowment for the Arts is set to close down on the last day of August.

The Committee of the Linden Endowment for the Arts regrets to inform residents of Second Life that the LEA regions will be closing at the end of August 2019.

In November 2018, the Committee decided that the best way forward was for the members to step down, and allow Linden Lab to revamp or re-organise the program, with new members if they wished. At that time, the bi-annual Land Grant (the AIR regions) were shuttered. A small number of the Committee stayed on to administer the Core regions until the remaining grant commitments ran their course.  Those grants are now coming to an end, and therefore the LEA will be closed at the end of August 2019

The Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) was established to help create a center of arts activity in Second Life. It was founded in 2010 and launched its first events in 2011. For the last eight years, it has been a collaborative venture between Linden Lab and the arts community. Guided initially by a board of renowned Second Life artists and more latterly also bringing in people with a strong interest in promoting the Arts in Second Life, the LEA has been committed to providing access to engaging experiences in the arts for the Second Life community. Over the last eight years, through its exhibitions, programs, and events, the LEA has fostered awareness of artists’ contributions to our virtual world and encouraged others to get involved and be inspired.

It has long been divided into two parts; The Core Regions and the Artists in Resident Regions.

The LEA Land Grant (the AIR Regions) was a program to distribute 20 regions (LEA10 - LEA29) generously donated by Linden Lab. These regions were used to promote art and artistic endeavors in Second Life. Full regions of virtual land were made available to in-world artists through an application process. The AiR Land Grant was a 6 month grant.

The LEA Land Grant was shuttered by Linden Lab in January 2019 at the request of the LEA Committee, pending decisions on the future of the LEA.

The Core regions  (LEA1- LEA9)  hosted a variety of artistic events and installations for a three month period. The Core regions included a Welcome Area, a four region theatre, a sandbox for artists, and partial and full regions that could be used for the three month period, with a great emphasis on community art events.

This program will be closing at the end of August when all the regions will be shuttered by Linden Lab at the request of the Committee.

The Committee wishes to express its gratitude and deep respect for the artists of Second Life, whose work they have been privileged to support over the last eight years. We hope that in time Linden Lab will be able to create a new program that will continue their support of the arts in Second Life.

Any questions concerning the Linden Endowment for the Arts should be addressed to PatriciaAnne Daviau or JMB Balogh.

The  Linden Endowment for the Arts Committee:
PatriciaAnne Daviau, JMB Balogh, LaPiscean Liberty, Jayjay Zifanwe
Advisors:  The Dove Rhode and Corcosman Voom


Until recently, there were many more LEA sims. But in November 2018, it was announced 19 of the 29 then were closing down as part of "restructuring" of the LEA.

Saffia Widdershins invited me to talk to her for a few minutes. She stated Linden Lab had nothing to do with the LEA closing down. If anything, they wanted it to keep going. But the LEA Committee "were pretty much burned out." After inviting a number of people to join the Committee, and being refused, they had decided to step down so a fresh start could take place.

Saffia told me this wasn't necessarily the end of the LEA. It could still be saved in some form, "But the initiative needs to come from the arts community. They need to pull together and create a workable proposal (or several proposals) for the Lab."

Inara Pey had a number of things to say on her blog, "As was pointed out to me after I wrote the article on the 2018 restructuring announcement, running any organisation like the LEA is going to be a thankless task; there is no remuneration for time given, there is always going to be hostility over actions taken and the grants awarded, and so on; it really can be a thankless task. ...

"However, there can be no doubting then when all is said and done, the LEA did a tremendous amount of good for the artists who participated in its programmes, offering many the means to express themselves and reach audiences in a manner that might never otherwise been able to achieve.

"While the LEA many have had its warts and at times had to face undue criticism, it has through its nine years of existence been a force for good for those arts who have been able to make use of its facilities and it has certainly helped enriched art within Second Life and allow many to appreciate work and installations they might otherwise never get to see. So, it’s not unfair to say its passing will be missed."

So will the LEA be saved, or will this chapter of the history of the arts in Second Life come to a close? Stay tuned for more details.

Bixyl Shuftan

InWorldz Gofundme Within $500 of $17,000 Goal, Questions About Future Arise

The Gofundme set up by it's owner Beth Reischl has raised most of the money it needs to stay afloat. As of the printing of this article, it has raised $16,506 of the $17,000 USD goal.

But will the money be used for it's original purpose? At Update Number Three, Reischl seemed to be saying instead of saving the grid, the money would be used to create a new one.

Wow! Everyone has been amazing! So here's where things stand. I asked in discord this afternoon, once we hit our goal, then what? What about next month? After much agonizing and upset, it was suggested by the residents that we use these monies to start a new grid. We'll be able to move OARS, profiles, groups. Inventory can only be taken that can be put in a box to be OAR filed. We'll be opening the sandbox for people who have no region to place their items and can get them back.

If you are NOT ok with this, I urge you to please withdraw your support on the page. I do not want to take anyone's money who is not ok with this! Otherwise, please start boxing your items up on your region or ask a friend or tomorrow I'll be opening the Sandboxes up for people!  

Every single one of you simply amazes me!

There were some unhappy comments following this announcement.

Toysolider Thor: I thought this was to save Inworldz. Why now still abandon Inworldz and force everyone to change to a new grid? I am lost. Inworldz has a lot of invested brand recognition and many have an emotional affinity to it. I dont get it.

Lin Stamos-Valentine: So the $17,000 was NOT to pay the loan and set up a new payment platform then (as we were told)? You are using it to start a new grid and we only have a few days to save 8 years (in my case) worth of work? Even though you HAD to know long before now that InWorldz was a lost cause? Jim says no matter what the grid was closing, but I thought we could save it, but now we aren't. Did I donate to start a new grid? NO! I donated to save InWorldz. I am asking for a refund. Go ahead and get mad at me, but I feel very betrayed at the moment.

Elpida Tisagapi: Ok STOP! the fund raising was to safe IW not to make a new grid! IW is special and its the ppl and the community there that makes it special. The goal is nearly reached and will give Beth a month to sort the problems with the loan people. Moving to another grid is NOT solving anything at all! Never mind there are no full perm creators, in their right mind, who will ever give their permission to move to a new grid with NO control what so ever. I know I speak for Tao Dreamscape in this matter too. There is NO way she will agree to that. I look after Tao's store on both IW and SL (the customer service side) and please take this as if Tao herself stated it. For me its IW or nothing. Fight for IW instead of taking the easy road.

Gillian Holmes: It was not 'suggested by the residents' that you start a new grid, it was decided by a small clique of people who rudely refuse to listen to the views of others. Most residents don't even know about this yet. I think you have taken money under false pretences. The initial 'cause' has been replaced by totally different one. You should refund all donations and start again clearly stating exactly what you are raising the money for. As it stands this could be viewed as fraud.

 Others were more supportive.

Hypatia Emerson: They are doing what they have to with what they have to work with. They didn't come up with the idea to start a new grid. The people on IW suggested it and talked Ele into it on Discord. She could just tell you all to go take a leap. She didn't she set up a go fund me to save our homes. The timing is too short to save the grid so she asked what to do and IW people said make a new one and transfer us over.

Tom Minor: Inworldz isn't the grid, it's the people.. and the creative spirit they share. That is what's worth preserving.

Frand Lupschen: The current discussion and I have been brought up to the current situation. InWorldz as a business has been killed by the loanshark company. It no longer has any business assets. The account is empty. So the business is really dead. What is happening now is that everyone is to put out the content they wish to keep in their regions and oars will be made of the regions. For those who do not have land, several sandbox regions will be made available. The oars, user list DB of active accounts will be retained and used to build a new grid that will use the saved content as the starting point for a new world.

So while it looks like the Gofundme will succeed, some new questions have arisen about the long-term future of the virtual world. Stay tuned for further details.

Update: As of 10AM PST, some people have withdrawn their donations, lowering the total raised to $16,211. Also, comments have appeared to have been disabled.

Bixyl Shuftan