These are the monthly reports I've written up as Arts and Sciences Minister of Wyewood.

2010: October | November | December

October 2010

This is my first A&S report. Here goes!

Recent Activity

During September, right before I officially took on the position of A&S minister, I surveyed Wyewoodians about their A&S interests, then prepared a report on the results for the October officers' meeting (and briefly discussed it at the business meeting as well). The survey report is now online and may be found here.

During October I worked on scheduling upcoming A&S activities and encouraging Wyewoodians to teach and share their knowledge. Two classes that were scheduled in October were postponed by request of their instructors before being announced to the populace, with one being rescheduled for November. November, however, is solidly booked and is going well so far. We have at least one class activity scheduled each week in November. Here is the schedule:

  • November 5: Chivalry class, by Sebastian ffraser
  • November 12: Bobbin lace class, by Miranda de Gages
  • November 19: Wimple class, by me
  • November 26: Awards and Protocol class, by Alianora Greymoor and Oddny in glaða.

Additionally, Master Mir has planned multiple Scriptoriums.

December is still mostly open for the moment. I plan to participate in our Herald's Heraldic Consultation night on December 10.

I have made an online A&S activity calendar which is on my website, but not yet on the Wyewood website (I just set it up this weekend). I will talk to our Webster about whether it would be possible to add it to the wyewood.org website.

Goals

I would like to have some A&S activity every week (except perhaps some of the holiday weeks), and would particularly like to alternate classes that are particularly good for newcomers -- what I call "freshman SCA" classes -- with other more specialized and advanced activities. This month, we have accomplished this by offering Chivalry and Awards and Protocol as "freshman" classes. I intend to continue this as much as possible, though it does depend somewhat on the availability of instructors.

I have asked Countess Elisabeth de Rossignol, who is an Ithra Chancellor, about whether it is a possibility to offer some of the basic classes for Ithra credit even if not held at an all-day Ithra event. I have proposed a year-long series of classes offered at various times and sites, in the style of the year-long Culinary Ithra that Madrone did a few years ago. If the Ithra Regents allow it, my goal would be to offer this series and include the basic course requirements that people need to earn Ithra degrees.

(For newer folks reading this: The University of Ithra is an educational organization here in An Tir that offers classes in SCA-related topics. It's not a real-world university, but you can earn Ithra degrees, if you want to, by taking the right series of classes. Or just take classes for the heck of it. It's a lot of fun. You will often hear people refer to "an Ithra" -- this means, generally, an event at which Ithra classes are held.)

I think that's it for now! Questions, comments -- just let me know. Thanks!

Wenyeva

November 2010

Greetings to the officers and populace of Wyewood!

Recent Activity:

I have continued working on scheduling new Arts and Sciences related activities for the Shire and encouraging Wyewoodians to teach and share their knowledge. November was relatively busy. These were the activities planned:

  • November 5: Chivalry class, by Sebastian ffraser (this was at a local Starbucks and went really well. If you missed it, you missed a good class!)
  • November 12: Bobbin lace class, by Miranda de Gages (I haven't heard much about how this went, but it looked well-attended.)
  • November 19: Wimple class, by me (This class was full and we had a good time!)
  • November 26: Awards and Protocol class, by Alianora Greymoor and Oddny in glaða. (The attendance on this was low, but I think it was a good class and enjoyed by all who attended.)

My understanding is that Master Mir ran some Scriptoriums in November as well, with more planned on an ongoing basis.

I don't think there was any culinary activity in November. For December, there have been a couple of pre-cooks scheduled for the Yule Feast.

December is more open because of the upcoming holidays. I chose not to try to schedule a ton of stuff for this month. I did participate in our Herald's Heraldic Consultation night on December 10, and we held a Market Day on December 10 as well. Market Days are a borderline Arts and Sciences event -- one reason I want to do them is because Market Days are a very medieval activity, and I attempted to provide references to medieval texts about markets as well. I would like to continue to do these quarterly or semi-yearly.

The online A&S activity calendar I made has been added to the the Wyewood website by our Webminister, Beleg.

Future Activity

A fashion show of authentic garb is currently scheduled for the December 18 Yule Feast. January is wide-open at the moment, except for one possible class on "How to autocrat an event." I am working on getting some more activities on the schedule. I think that's it for now! Questions, comments -- just let me know. Thanks! Wenyeva

December 2010

Greetings to the officers and populace of Wyewood!

Recent Activity:

I have continued working on scheduling new Arts and Sciences related activities for the Shire and encouraging Wyewoodians to teach and share their knowledge. Because of the holiday season, things slowed down a bit in December. These were the activities planned:

  • December 3: The culinary get-together this month was a pre-cook for our Yule Feast, held at Lady Symonne's house.
  • December 10: Medieval Market Day (our shire herald, Lady Avine, also hosted a heraldic consultation table that day.)
  • December 14: Knitting for Beginners and general knitters' get-together
  • December 18: Fashion Show at the Yule Feast

I believe there were Scriptoriums in December as well, with more planned on an ongoing basis.

Future Activity

January is off to a slow start because of the holidays. But we do have some things planned, including another in the "SCA 101" series of basic topics: "How to Autocrat an Event" on January 28, which will be facilitated by Lady Alianora and Lady Emma.

In February, there will be a follow-up class, "How to be a Feastocrat" by Lady Fionnghuala inghean Lochlainn (who you may know as Finoodles).

More is forthcoming -- stay tuned!

I think that's it for now! Questions, comments -- just let me know. Thanks!

Wenyeva