The Linden Endowment for the Arts has announced applications for the third round of land grants is now open. For artists not familiar with the LEA or the land grant process, the following is taken from the formal announcement:

The LEA Land Grant program seeks to promote and nurture the arts in Second Life, through a six-month land grant to recipients. Recipients can be individuals or groups interested in creating or curating art, or proposing cultural projects which would require/utilise a full-sim build and can be completed within the allotted time frame. The LEA is able to offer land grants through the generosity of Linden Lab.

Twenty regions, donated by Linden Lab and managed by the LEA, are generally offered under the land grant programme, and successful applicants will be granted the use of one full region for a period of six months. The region may then be used on an individual or group basis for such diverse activities as:

Full sim exhibitions and / or immersive installations

Curated projects, especially those which have a connection to physical exhibitions and events (augmented reality)

Applications are not limited to visual art but are welcomed from all areas of artistic expression, including performance, music, and film.

Preference is for submitted works to be original in nature, although curated projects may present extant works. Successful applicants will have up to four months in which to execute their build, and must have it open for public viewing for at least the last two months of the grant period. Artists may alternatively use the land for multiple exhibits, but it is imperative that projects will be ready within four months from acceptance, and this time-frame should be considered (and reflected) in applications.

Application Timeline

(Dates subject to change by LEA in the event of unforeseen circumstances)

July 18th: applications open

August 15th: deadline for submissions

August 26th: final decision by the LEA Committee for primary applications

August 27-31st: Notification period for successful applicants / selection of alternates (if required)

September 1st: region hand-overs and public announcement of successful applications. You can find the application form at the end of the LEA blog entry, together with all other necessary information.