Let's pool together and pay artists to create CC-BY bg art!

[Zylinder]

You need a proof of concept - most likely out of your own pockets before people will support you. The 5% will recuperate your initial investment once it kicks off... And if it doesn't, that's why they call it investments. It's easier to convince people you need that taxation when your project is busy enough to merit a significant investment of time. From the forum alone, you can see people are leery of projects that don't have a demo/much assets, so you can imagine how it might feel about a project that costs money AND hasn't proven itself.

[Kate]

This seems to be a wonderful idea, but I too see the problems with this. I think it would work if it were a subscription to backgrounds, and that would fund a new one each month or twice a month from an artist or two, or offer a subscription to an artwork "set" for particular location-setting packs; however, that's not the purpose, to offer a subscription, but to offer for free. It's a noble pursuit, but might be rather difficult to see through due to the nature of humans and the ways we will and won't spend money.
*My wildcard idea would be to intrigue some rich patron of the arts with your idea and ask for a grant, lol. If only life were that easy. (I'll remember this if I ever win the lottery because I do really like this idea.)