ANST - more A&S stuff

[dennis grace]

Greetings good cousin Kayleigh; Aquilanne here.

You post with concerns as to dealing with individuals' levels of experience
in an arts and sciences venue.

>When setting up those neat folders for everyone to write in...could there
>not be a front page with the person's SCA and real world experience.

I think this is an excellent idea for occasions like Laurels' Prize
Tourneys. At a Laurels' Prize Tourney, the emphasis is heavier on the person
doing the work than the work itself. However, in an Arts and Sciences
competition, the emphasis is more on the merit and virtuosity displayed in
each peice of work. Don't get me wrong, all A&S events have both entrants
and entries, but the focus of each kind of event is somewhat different;
that's why there's different kinds of A&S events. I like them all.

>But off on another tangent - could a "profile" in a folder not help with
>the judging?

Not so tangential at all, Your Excellency. I think that at a Laurels' Prize
Tourney it would go nicely with the folder you speak of. On the other hand,
information about the artist is (or should be) irrelevant in an A&S
competition where we are more focused on judging the quality of each entry.
If you look at a piece of embroidery and can judge it to be worthy of a
score of, say, 8, then it's an 8 whether the artisan had been doing
embroidery since the discovery of bone needles or just took it up a couple
weeks ago. At something like a Laurels' Prize Tourney, however, knowing that
the artist had just picked up needle and thread a couple weeks ago helps the
Laurels/judges to give the extra attention such an accomplishment deserves
and encourage this individual to surge ahead (pun unintended ;->).

> the question is - is he still a novice - and when is someone
>no longer one.

I don't think it's necessarily wise to label someone "novice." (Oh, no, not
the "offensive terminology usage" monster-beasty again! ;-> ). I think it's
a much better idea to look for titles/references that denote levels of
*accomplishment* as opposed to levels of ignorance or inexperience. Many
folk's involvement with art is fairly tentative and fragile, especially
during their early efforts; I think we should do all we can to encourage and
nurture continued involvement through positive reinforcement, open sharing
and teaching, and all those other warm fuzzy things that keep people coming
back and communing with art and beauty. However, in an A&S competition,
whether or not a person is a novice, the work has to speak for itself. A&S
competitions can be just as positive an experience for the two-week
embroidery prodigy as for the bone-needle-weilder as long as the judges
provide fair, consistent scoring and thoughtful, constructive comments.

Thank you for your post and yet another excuse for me to stay up waaaay past
my bedtime ;->

Aquilanne

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