I had experience about art contest when the winner is determined by public voting regardless it's a combination of judges + public voting, public voting alone etc. I can say it's not a good decision because the winner in this contest would be the most popular member, not the best art. I understand you might think public voting would be fair because it's transparent, but the reality isn't.
Fair point. Do you suggest we stick to judges-only?
I'm not against AI generated art but it looks like you haven't mentioned AI generated art in the rules you provided. In my opinion AI generated art should not be allowed in this kind of contest as it may create an unfair advantage for those who have put effort into creating real art.
You're right, should have added that as well. Thanks!
Wouldn't public voting become vulnerable to vote buying or any other sort of manipulation made by the artist? Say for example soliciting votes from their bitcointalk friends?
Definitely a possibility. Apocollapse brought this up so I'll likely be limiting the votes to the judges, just like with the previous contest last time.