Support Local Creativity is an online community underwritten by the incredibly talented creatives at the Flying Dog Brewery in Denver, Colo.—you know them best from the Ralph Steadman illustrations that dance across their labels. Created as a virtual environment for creative professionals, Support Local Creativity is made for independent designers and artists who don't have the resources or the time to promote themselves. Here, you can build mini-portfolios to get your work out there easily, compare notes with like-minded individuals quickly and get back to focusing on the important stuff … like more work.
http://www.supportlocalcreativity.com/

There is perhaps no better place for a creative person to get lost than Artella Land, a happening oasis of inspiration for writers, artists and other creative kin. Rolling around the whimsical site will reward the weary traveler with a Vintage Market filled with antique ephemera and Poetry Plaza—complete with contests, workshops, courses and creativity kits. Started as a magazine (recommended, always surprising), the site rewards its readers with the Daily Muse, featuring news, artist profiles, advice and inspiration. They claim it's the only daily creativity newspaper in the universe, and they are probably right.
http://www.artellawordsandart.com/

If you want to see the design process truly in action, check out Cut&Paste Digital Design Tournament 2007 as it kicks off its tour Sept. 8th. Cut&Paste is a truly global design tournament, with stops in a whopping 11 cities worldwide, all of which will serve as great networking opportunities for the local community. Eight emerging designers will go head-to-head in each city—creating designs in lightning-fast 15-minute rounds, each with a different graphic theme. Here's where you come in: All this takes place live, on stage, in front of audience. So you can sit back, relax and thank god it's not you up there, sweating all over your mouse.
http://www.cutandpaste.com