The San Juan County Fair Board selected the poster contest winner for the 2025 Fair in January and received immediate backlash to the Artifical Intelligence artwork. The poster features a goat in a spacesuit surrounded by fair imagery and the 2025 Fair Slogan: “Into the Future & True to Our Roots.”

“Wow, AI, really?” one social media commenter said. “Way to spit in the faces of the many hard-working artists of our island community.”

“So disappointing to see AI featured at an event that’s meant to showcase human talent, creativity, craftsmanship, and hard work,” another lamented. “Sad.”

This situation brought to the islands an issue that’s been brewing more widely over the last few years – the use of Artificial Intelligence and its place in a quickly-changing landscape. It also shined a spotlight on longer-standing issues, such as compensation for artists, criticism coming heaviest from those not participating, and where the line is drawn in small communities between volunteering and exploiting.

“The AI train has left the station,” Paul Huber, the artist who put together the winning poster, said. “That toothpaste is not going back in the tube. It’s a matter of embracing it as an appropriate tool when needed or when useful. That element is a great awakening here – this is going on in the real world and now all of the sudden it’s here in ours.”

Huber, a 72-year-old resident of Orcas Island and a 50-year professional artist, was not surprised at all to see the response from the community. He put the entry together for fun – AI is a tool he’s been liking to play around with lately – and when the board unexpectedly chose his as the winner, he warned them about the inevitable backlash that would come against AI art winning the contest.

While Huber emphasized that he does believe there’s a great misunderstanding around the ease of AI-art and the lack of work involved in creating what you want, (“Art isn’t ‘microwavable’ even with AI,” he assured, explaining the hours he spent on the project and the detail and nuance required to execute the artist’s vision), Huber also knows the climate of things right now and that it’s to be expected.

The backlash to AI art of today can easily be compared to the backlash to digital art in the early 2000’s—when graphic design was maligned as “not real art” if it was using tools on a computer rather than a paintbrush on paper.

Some argue, however, that there’s an ethical difference between using digital tools and using databases of other artists’ work to create something new. AI pulls from datasets of patterns and images on the internet – the work of real people – to create amalgamations that fit the prompts given, while graphic design is where illustrators use digital tools to create original art.

The Fair Board, while choosing a winner, discussed the AI issue at length and decided to move forward with the poster anyway given the lack of rules around AI usage prior to entries being received and the fitting nature of the future/past theme.

“I applaud the Fair Board for recognizing the issue and saying, you know what, it fits the theme, it could be appropriate for this year and this circumstance, but in the future there will be no AI,” Brandon Andrews, San Juan County Parks and Fair Director, said of the board’s decision. “I think it was a thoughtful response and the most fair to everyone involved, but once (using AI) was too many for some folks.”

The feedback was swift and angry – largely from people who have never submitted entries or been to a fair meeting – and the disparity brought some feedback of its own.

“I agree about the use of AI… it’s not ideal,” Jennifer Rigg, former Fair Board member, current Poultry Superintendent of the fair, and designer of the graphic art for the annual fair t-shirts, added to the conversation. “However, art submissions by local artists are hard to come by. There is SO much talent here, but I have not seen a lot of participation in all the years I have participated.”

When she saw the poster had been withdrawn, Rigg added, “I’m hoping this stirred the pot of local talent. Lots of finger pointing… maybe those fingers can now get to work on some sketching.”

The internet has made feedback about issues, especially on a community level, as effortless as the stroke of a finger, while those in the ring struggle to find solutions that appease everybody.

“We hear the community’s concern about how this process played out,” Andrews said. “And for those who are interested and have time to improve the process, there are open fair board seats throughout the county for their voices to be heard and to help improve processes, so we can really make the fair something that everyone can be proud of.”

Currently, five of the nine Fair Board seats sit empty, with zero representatives from Shaw or Lopez islands. Superintendent positions are open also, with Super meetings starting in less than one month. Anyone can attend Fair Board meetings, even if they’re not a member, to have a voice in the conversation and help their feedback create productive change.

“We’d love help finding new local entertainment or food vendors,” Andrews suggested. “People can help create decorations or come up with marketing ideas. There’s a place for everyone in the county fair, whether as an attendee, a participant, or a volunteer. You let us know that you’re interested and we will find the right place for you.”

However, in a small county like San Juan, most of those positions are unpaid. Which brings the discussion back to the main complaint of the poster contest debate: artists should be compensated for their work. This contest was offering “exposure” as payment.

“You know, I think good is coming from this,” Huber shared. “There may be a much higher appreciation for the arts and artists on these islands. My hope is that that appreciation takes the form of actually paying artists for their work, their time, and their talents.”

Huber was especially surprised about the unpaid nature of the contest once he realized the Fair Board was asking for multiple revisions – which ultimately led to art that he wasn’t thrilled with. He was unpaid for not only the original entry piece but also for performing multiple rounds of revisions/design work.

“My original was a very different poster,” he said. “There was a kind of joy about it – they wanted it to be very literal and it looks completely different than what I submitted. I think there’s room to examine what this process looks like. I love the idea of opening this up to the public, more transparency. Offering $500 would be appropriate. I hope they totally reinvent the process.”

When asked about the lack of compensation, Andrews was in agreement with the feedback on paying for art while acknowledging the complexity of running a government entity that relies on community volunteers to put together events and has immense red tape hoops to jump through to pay for things.

“We will continue to try and find ways to fairly compensate the needed skills and services for the fair that still allows the community to put forth their voice without being caught up in bidding solicitations,” Andrews said. “I agree that the language around exposure is demeaning to artists – that will be changed right away. The real value is in contributing to the community.”

Ultimately, the fair is run by volunteers. 2024’s fair had 260 volunteers – including the Fair Board Members who are being criticized for not paying artists, when they are unpaid laborers. Every exhibit, art piece, craft, and creation displayed at the fair are from unpaid labor. The question becomes: when is something exploitation and when is it community involvement?

The Fair Board will be meeting this month to choose a new winner from the previous round of poster contest entries, in fairness to the original artists. Huber’s work and contact can be found on his website at www.huberdesignwerks.com. Applicants for board positions, superintendent positions, or other fair contributions can find information at www.sjcfair.org.

Andrews summed up the give-and-take between the SJC Parks/Fair Department and the community with the following:

“We offer space for folks to express themselves around what they love the most, and that is one of the best things about the county fair,” he said. “It’s about our community and what they love the most, and they get to share it with their family, friends and neighbors. We just want to make it the best that we can.”

The fair poster after revising it per the fair board’s request.