America has a literally gutted art education system where like 60% of the country has basically no real access to good art learning programs at all.

In a lot of Asia, art is a blue collar job like welding or Hvac because you can learn it easier in many places. This is why racist chud manga and brutal loli rape manga exist since you don't have to go to a traditional art school to get a real art education. You can just go to a workshop then start drawing relatively well.

In America, art is a white collar job that only the richest of trust fund babies can usually learn and have time to get personal tutelage in. This is why it's always the same few guys from NYC making comics and they have to literally import Italians and Brazilians to make fanart for them.

This is why the Dix art contest turned out the way it did.