On the off chance you have not noticed, there is a thriving art scene in Second Life. Just give the destination guide a poke and look under the “Art” heading and you’ll see plenty to start out with. (Just now I count 56 galleries as well as 35 exhibits and installations listed. And there is plenty of art out there beyond what’s in the destination guide!
Where you have artists and galleries, you no doubt have collectors. And I suppose it should not be a great surprise that you will also find art historians. That appears to be the theme of the Dive into SL Art exhibit at SL18B (http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Sparkle/170/203/23).
Here you can see an overview of some of what artists have produced in SL. The display is partly retrospective, including an amazing old, all prim statue of Samson doing unfortunate things to the local support structure.
While a pocket-sized museum is not going to begin to show the whole breadth and history of art in Second Life, it can give you a taste of what else might be out there. Drop by, look around, take some notes and explore from there!
Thinking Outside the Plywood Box 