Rasmuson Foundation Gallery opens in Second Life promoting Alaska artists

PR Log (Press Release) – May 11, 2008 – The Rasmuson Gallery of Alaskan Artists officially opens Monday 12 May with a reception from 12pm - 3pm PST or SLT. Located on the University of Alaska Fairbanks sim Rhetorica, the project features a growing exhibit of art by artists based in Alaska.

Each artist is a grantee of the Rasmuson Foundation. There will be music, video, and virtual food at the opening for all Second Life residents to enjoy.

At 12:30pm SLT (PST), there will be an announcement of the 2008 Individual Artists Award recipients and an unveiling of art, video and music in the gallery by several of the receipients.

The Individual Artist Awards is a program of the Arts and Culture Initiative, a ten-year $20 million investment to increase the impact of arts in Alaska. These Awards fund individual Alaskan artists at various stages of their career whose work is defined by excellence and reflects any of the diverse cultural and aesthetic communities in Alaska.

To attend the event, you must be a member of Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com). Basic membership is free, and you must download the Second Life software after registering to access the 3-dimensional environment of Second Life.

To get to the gallery, point your Web browser to the SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rhetorica/185/237/44

Click on the Teleport button. This will launch your Second Life software and transport you directly to the gallery once you log in.

The gallery was created through a partnership between University of Alaska Fairbanks, Rasmuson Foundation and Moonbow Productions, Inc./Cybergrrl Oh Productions, an Anchorage-based Web 2.0 strategy company. Located on a snowy hill, the Rasmuson Gallery of Alaskan Artists takes full advantage of the creative possibilities of building in a virtual world. Enormous paintings and photographs hang in midair around the outdoor space.

Avatars can either walk around or fly around the exhibits to view the select pieces of Alaskan art. One exhibit, a poem, is mounted as words on a towering post which can be read by flying to the top and floating back down to the ground.

There are three levels to the gallery - the ground floor will house art from some of the 2008 award recipients, the second floor houses additional artwork from grantees from previous years, and the third floor is a social gathering space for Second Life residents and Alaskans in Second Life.

For more information, email cybergrrloh@gmai.com or IM Cybergrrl Oh inworld.