Designing Art Exhibitions in an Educational Virtual World

Co-Directors June Julian and Julian Crooks demonstrate the multiple features of the Cerulean Gallery in Second Life, this research report showcases several exemplar exhibits created by students, artists, and museums. Located in The Educational Media Center, a Second Life teaching and social space, the Cerulean Gallery exhibits functioned as case studies that tested its effectiveness as an alternative venue for exhibition and aesthetic discourse in virtual worlds, and to reveal the learning preferences of Net Generation learners. This report is an examination of three recent major exhibits held at the Center: Places of the Heart, an intergenerational theme show, Wish You Were Here, a collaboration with Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Art Center in the Western Isles, UK, The Anime Show, a high school art club in Philadelphia, and a photography exhibit from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.