ANCHORAGE, Alaska, May 27 AK-Rasmuson-Foundtn
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska-based Rasmuson Foundation
broke new ground this month by becoming one of the first family foundations to
have a major art presence in the 3-D virtual world of Second Life.
After honoring 2008 Distinguished Artist Ron Senungetuk and 19 other
recipients of the Individual Artist Awards in Anchorage, the Foundation made a
similar announcement in Second Life (SL) and unveiled its Rasmuson Gallery of
Alaskan Artists. Located on the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) sim
Rhetorica, the gallery features a growing exhibit of Alaskan artwork.
Enormous paintings and photographs hang in midair around an outdoor space.
Avatars can walk or fly around the exhibits and can click on any piece of art
or artist sign or photograph to receive a notecard about each artist and their
work. One exhibit, a poem, is mounted as words on a towering post that can be
read by flying to the top and floating down. The ground floor of the gallery
houses art from some of the 2008 Individual Artist Awards recipients. The
second floor has additional artwork from previous year grantees. A third
floor is a social gathering for Second Life residents and Alaskans in Second
Life.
"We consider SL to be a rich medium that allows us to show and tell the
stories of Alaska, its issues and our grantees in unique ways to new
audiences," said Rasmuson Foundation Vice President Jeff Clarke. "The Gallery
provides a rich and unique perspective on creativity in Alaska."
The gallery was created through a partnership between Rasmuson Foundation,
UAF and Moobow Productions/Cybergrrl Oh Productions, an Anchorage-based Web
2.0 strategy company. To visit the gallery, you need to be a member of Second
Life and download the software, both of which are free. To register with
Second Life, go to http://www.secondlife.com. To see the gallery, point your
Web browser to: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rhetorica/185/237/44 and click the
Teleport button. This launches the Second Life software and transports you
directly to the gallery, once you log in.
The Individual Artist Awards is a program of the Rasmuson Foundation Arts
and Culture Initiative, a ten-year $20 million investment to increase the
impact of arts in Alaska. Learn more at http://www.rasmuson.org.
SOURCE Rasmuson Foundation
