It’s not all about winning.
Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay issue is kind of a big deal to people in these parts. When BOTB season opens up, everyone is all “vote for us” on every social media platform. I like supporting people/places that I respect, enjoy or believe in, but people get pushy. I’ve been in the position of having to ask for votes before and it made me feel weird. I’d put it out there once and leave it alone, then I would see all my competitors posting every day or even multiple times a day. That’s just not my steelo. I’ve never been very competitive, mostly because in order for someone to win, someone else has to lose. I’ve even cried at the end of sports games, not because my favorite team won, but because another team lost. So, when Tony Krol and I won a Critic’s Choice for Best Artistic Message to Greedy Politicians in the 2015 BOTB, I was pumped.
We didn’t win something by begging for votes everyday, there was no competition and no one had to lose. The award was given to us because at least one person saw our work on the Tampa Heights mural, believed in what we were trying to convey and wanted to recognize us for that. We didn’t blow smoke up anyone’s ass, butter any balls, nor did we yack in anyone’s ear about our project. We just worked and poured our hearts into it. Without submitting our names/work for consideration and without knowing we could even win anything without doing so, we were recognized for our work. I see it as more of a gigantic “Thank You” than an award. To that gigantic “Thank You” I offer an even bigger one in return.
