callistotoni

Getting this out of my system. On re-imagining A&S in the SCA/West:

I have made no secret of the fact that I hate A&S competitions at a cellular level. But I'm a reasonable, rational adult and I accept that
A) For some people, A&S competions are an important vehicle to strive for excellence, to serve as an artistic challenge, and as an excuse to impose on one's self a project dealine. And
B) That the idea of A&S competitions, *especially* in support of determining a kingdom A&S champion-- to serve alongside all the other kingdom champions-- is an accepted and expected part of worldwide SCA culture.
So I accept that A&S competions are Here To Stay.

Because of the ad hoc way the SCA grew and the organizational models people had in their heads at the time the SCA was created, competions became the organizational bedrock for the office of SCA Arts Minister. Yes, there have always been classes and collegiums, but the A&S office was not organized around those, but, instead around the expectation that there would be A&S competions at each SCA event. I call this the "country fair" model of organization.

As time has gone on the idea of living history has become more popular and more familiar with the general public and with at least a subset of the SCA membership. Over the years we've gotten better at exploring medieval and renaissance material culture, and more and more you see people manifesting that interest in the way they play in the SCA (in personal kit, encampments, cooking setups, merchant wares, etc.) There has also been a growth in incorporating period practices in the way we play, with the most obvious example being the Perfectly Period Feast(s), with it's subsquent fostering of handwashing, period carving, and serving practices.

I hear repeatedly how hard it is to get people to enter competitions and how hard it is to find judges. But all you have to do to see how the Arts are thriving in the West is to look around at individual encampments or to talk to people. There is a lot going on! But it's being done at a private, personal, interest group, or household level, rather than being sponsored at the Kingdom level.

So I wonder if the following would be possible, desirable, and/or feasible: What if there were 2 organizational groups under the kingdom A&S umbrella. One would be cogniscent over the whole competion/A&S championship infrastructure. This organization/organizational structure would serve the needs of those who like and thrive with A&S competitions, and would keep us in line with the rest of the SCA and their championships.

The second group would foster the "living history"/exploration of period art and material culture/art in situ-model of A&S within the SCA. Now, what exactly a Kingdom-level office/group would actually do to foster this is not crystal clear to me right now. At a minimum I would think the Kingdom could provide a centralized clearinghouse of networking information (who is doing what). As Veronica has already proposed, there could be encampments marked with a flag that would welcome visitors in to talk about Stuff, and tours through these encampments could be offered.

I know I see the world through my own personal filter, as do we all. So I wouldn't suggest instituting anything before doing some basic research. I think I would start with a survey of the people of the West regarding what are they doing in the Arts/Sciences? What do they think they need or would like to see from the Kingdom that would support their Art? To network? To share information, resources, and constructive critiques/feedback? How public or private to people/households really want to be? Obviously, the Kingdom is the sum of its parts, so that every piece of Art/Science contributes to the overall wealth of the Kingdom (the "just look around" factor), but is there a way for the Kingdom to better incorporate these individual efforts to create a more supportive and cohesive whole? (Hard to articulate that last point. I guess I'm trying to get at is the vibe I get that we are an atomized Kingdom with a bunch of people doing a bunch of cool things, instead of doing these things as part of the Kingdom of the West, if that makes any sense...)

Of course, the idea of 2 A&S organizations begs the question of competition of resources. Do we have the personal available that would be able and willing to do both? I get the vibe that it is hard to find officers, given that everybody has incredibly busy lives and their personal bandwith is already maxed out. Which brings up another factor that I think is playing into a lot of our problems as a Kingdom, and that is the dearth of newcomers. But that's a separate post, surely...

EDITED TO ADD: I've just remembered that we already have a forum in-place to network and share information, the West Kingdom Arts Network: http://west-arts.ning.com/ . I should go and join that, finally...