How To Obtain A Land Grant From LEA

I said I would post again when the Linden Endowment for the Arts’ land grant program was open for another round, so here it is! Round 13 is now accepting applications. Click here to check it out and apply. You have until May 31st to submit your ideas!

In every artists’ life, there’s a slew of grant and residency applications we apply for. Many of those applications face rejections. It’s the game of numbers you run when applying for one seat and a crowd of people who want the position! You can’t always contact the judge before you submit either, so you might not know how to put your best foot forward when pitching a project.

In real life, there are sometimes informational meetings to clear up confusion and allow grant applicants to understand what the judges are looking for. I figure in this case, a blog post might help.

So here’s my advice. I’m separating this into bullet points for do’s and don’ts.

DO:

Give as much information in your project pitch as you can. Remember: who, what, when, where, and how. If you haven’t figured everything out yet, that’s okay, but write more than just a general idea. Who will be involved? What is your sim about? Do you imagine this as an experience, a game, an exhibit? Will you use Second Life experience keys?
Yes, you can propose other things besides art! If it’s engaging/educational, go for it.
Let your imagination go wild! Even if you think your idea is outlandish and silly, propose it anyway. You never know what’ll happen!
Link your portfolio, if you have one. Just have a Flickr or Deviantart account of things you’ve made? Link it! We want to see what you can create.
If you’re a visiting user looking to create an academic project in SL via LEA, link us to your outside work! The more confidence we have in your academic drive, the better.
Believe in yourself! Art is for everyone. Everyone should have a Bob Ross mindset when approaching art. There’s no VIP list here.
Yes, you can propose a workshop! Those are fantastic ideas. (Note: BE SURE to fully develop your lesson plan and then summarize it to us so we know what you want to do.)
Team up with other applicants! If you have similar ideas, why not? You can make them even better by mashing those awesome ideas together.

DON’T:

Don’t make it all about you. Second Life is a user-oriented game, sure. But ask yourself: do users looking for something to do want to walk through a big sim filled with selfies? It’s interesting when an important narrative is behind it, but otherwise we can go to Flickr for that.
Don’t propose an exhibit that uses intellectual property that belongs to someone else.
Don’t contact the judges to “make friends” with them while voting. Don’t be that person.
Don’t assume that just because you won a grant once, that you’ll win one again.
Don’t be upset if you don’t win a grant. It happens. It happens in real life, it also happens here. No one is immune.
Do NOT propose commercial projects. LEA grants require participants refrain from using the sims for profit or commercial gain. No ads, no selling stuff.

I hope this blog post helps! Remember to believe in yourself and apply. That’s the biggest thing! And remember–the art community has, and always will be about, making friends and sharing your craft. If you can’t be friendly and compassionate, you won’t get the full experience of this virtual community. ⭐