BruceS: Wampa-One: Maybe the Seattle Art & Seek Category set a bad precedent then? I was not around then, so I don't know the history of how it came to be. Maybe since it is in the Games Department it is somehow different?
The Seattle Art & Seek category was a special category set up by Groundspeak and the City of Seattle. It was not handled like a "normal" category and thus is no longer on the grid. It should not be viewed as setting any precedence.
Actually... we stopped by the "Lily Pad" during the Seattle Art & Seek contest period (a wonderful fluke in vacation timing) and the powers that be seemed *very* open to recreating the project in other cities. I live in southern California, so the logical choices are Los Angeles and San Diego. I tried, ever so briefly, to contact the art councils for the two cities. Los Angeles didn't respond, and San Diego said "no." I suppose I could pursue it a bit more vigorously.
Anyway, whattdya think? Would it work in your part of the world?