Hmm... Interesting topic here.
Of course, you are going to get the "You're Wrong" attitude from the "newest, hottest sleight" junkies, and you're going to get the "Absolutely" attitude from the people who really do study magic as an art.
I don't think anyone can actually call themselves an artist until they do a few things. Whether that art be painting, music, magic, etc.
By contributing to an art, that does not necessarily make you an artist. Take a garage band for instance. They may study music seriously, they may be amazing at their instruments, but are they artists? Their guitarist may be able to shred and their drummer might be fantastic. But the music they play just sounds awful. How is that different from your average sleight junkie. "OMG look I mastered the clipshift!!!!!" Then a link to a decent performance of the clipshift with a webcam. Okay, maybe you can master sleights, just like a guitarist can master certain riffs, but that doesn't make them great magicians, it doesn't make them an artist.
I do not consider myself an artist. Sure, I like to perform at parties, I like to amaze my friends, and I study the essentials, but I don't come close to the true magic artists out there. I contribute to the art, but I am not an artist.
So much more needs to be done to be considered an artist.
Most of us here are the every day garage band. The truth is, very few garage bands have what it takes to make it and be considered an artist in the music world.
-Kevin