The personal computer has made powerful creative tools available to millions of people. One does not need to come into a social, virtual world to be able to create for oneself. The appeal of SL for many people is the ability to see what other people are doing and to be able to share one's own creations with others. As a parent, I find that nurturing and encouraging someone's interests comes more naturally for me than excluding or saying no. I believe that "supporting the arts in SL" should be about promoting peoples' participation.
I was very excited last summer to have had something that I had submitted to be accepted for the ISEA New West show and it was very cool to see pictures of the t-shirt that I had made and given out for the show showing up in other peoples' photo blogs. :)
http://www.ludica.org.uk/NewWest/
But I was even more excited to have discovered in December the Photography Studio in Grignano. All SL residents are invited to submit photos for monthly themed competitions. I was very happy to have had photos accepted for December's exhibition and very surprised that one was picked as the month's first prize winner. I am very glad to have had another picture that I submitted be accepted for the January show. Being able to participate is more important than winning. These shows have been a lot of fun for me. I look foward to the next one. I think it is wonderful that Osprey Therian and the other fine folks in Grignano are sponsoring these shows.