Mongo, That's what I'm trying to think of a way to avoid. Right now I'm seeing that there are a lot of angry people in this forum. I know emotion and different points of view are normal in any group of people. I also know that where ever there are 2 or more people, there are politics. Period. I'm trying to take the next step - a step towards problem solving. I'm trying to figure out a "win-win" solution - acknowledging that politics, different points of view, different values systems - are part of the equation. Suggestion #1). offers one possible way of taking care of both "the corporate bottom line" -and- any desire that you or I as a member might have to vote for whoever we want. I can't actually tell if Legume or Toxic Angel or Monet or Michaelangelo or Da Vinci or Picasso or Boris Vallejo or Berke Breathed (the Bloom County cartoonist) is the better "artist". They each have different styles and messages. I've ohhhed and ahhhed over at a number of things I've seen by each of them. Their work has impacted me in different ways. For that simple reason I pointed out that it's critical that the criteria for selection be published before any kind of vote by anyone. Tuttle, I have Lightwave, a Wacom, and Painter. I suck as a still artist. My animations aren't necessarily pretty either but I try to use original music and storyline to create a "whole" that accomplishes the same thing still artists try to accomplish. I agree very much about looking at the art itself. It's just so hard to agree on a definition of "artist" around here. Some would say it is based on someone's technical merits. Some would say otherwise.

Before they made me they broke the mold!
http://home.roadrunner.com/~kflach/