Traditionally, there is really only one way to gain higher art awards in Amtgard, that is by entering an Arts and Sciences (A&S) Tourney. Unfortunately, these are not everyone's cup of tea. From logistical problems to higher levels of anxiety, to entrants outright quitting the game or their art from unkind feedback.
From this unease born the Showcase, which is a lower-stakes art exhibition, but lacks the feedback that is valuable from the A&S Tourney.
I propose a third option. To be run either online or in-person. The Feedback Forum is a chance to show off your artwork, even your works-in-progress to experts within your craft. These are informal talks in small groups or one on one, where valuable skills, connections, and support within our community will be forged. The goal of this is to pass on valuable tips and provide feedback to people who are new to a craft, or are looking to better their craft, for either entry into the two other types of exhibitions. Think of this as a more informal mentorship that may last for only a video call, or a chat in person, or an entire lifetime. If you believe that information and skills should be hoarded and never shared or passed to others, this is not going to be the right place for you.
The Feedback Forum consists of two types of people:
Scholar:
This is the person seeking feedback, who is open to learning tips and advice from people who have expertise within that field. You should bring your artwork or work-in-progress with you to the Feedback Forum, and be open for both positive and areas-for-growth feedback.
Counselor:
This is the expert. They have a lot of experience in creating artwork in a given field, entering tourneys, and judging experience. This does not mean that they are highly-awarded, however. Awards are subjective, and dependent on location, and many people fall between the cracks and do not get awarded for their work (EVERYONE NEEDS TO RECOMMEND PEOPLE FOR AWARDS!). You do not need to be a Master or Serpent Knight to be a Counselor. What you should be is open to helping our A&S community grow by helping others, and finding joy when others succeed. We do not need more gatekeepers. You should bring an open mind and be ready to give feedback face-to-face.
You Can be Both a Scholar and a Counselor
Just because you have expertise in one craft does not mean you should stop seeking knowledge in other crafts. Everyone should be a life long learner.
This whole idea is part of the Online Academy of Knowledge which holds periodic online (via zoom), and generally recorded classes on a variety of subjects.
Types of Arts and Sciences Exhibitions
The Arts and Sciences (A&S) Tourney
The Arts and Sciences (A&S) Tourney, which is a judged competition, where you enter your artwork (usually at an event), receive a score from judges (typically on a 5 or a 10 point scale, and hopefully some helpful feedback that may or may not make you want to rip your hair out in frustration. These can be held in-person or, occasionally online, especially during the pandemic. This is historically the only way to show off your art (only to the judges and tourney-runner). Also, in some kingdoms, this is the only way to receive art awards, either by placing very highly, or by winning the tourney.
There are variations of A&S tourneys, beyond the basic, standard tourney:
Under 5 (the number will vary) for people with less than 5 art awards (dragon, garber, owl,)
Dragonmasters which typically require a certain number of entries across a variety of mediums in order to win.
Themed or Category Specific tourneys are more specialized and may require entries to be in a certain medium, or towards a reign theme (ex: In a kingdom with a Zelda themed reign, entries may have to be related to Zelda in some way)
The downsides to this is that it forces competition between artisans, and it really all depends on who else entered. There are also a number of factors that can effect your score, and your feedback that have nothing to do with your artwork. The weather, location, how well your judges are feeling at the moment, when they were judged, how knowledgeable the judges are, how many more entries they need to go through, etc., all can change your score or your feedback greatly. And that kinda sucks. This is a pain-point where a lot of people burnout, give up, and stop trying. People who are amazing artists, but are so discouraged that they stop doing their craft. This is a tragedy.
The Showcase
The Showcase, a recent invention (Please see my ongoing Virtual A&S Showcase to join and maybe run one in person locally to you) which is more like a gallery exhibition, where anyone can come and look at your pieces (as opposed to the A&S Tourney only really having the judges see the artwork) and is much more low-stakes, and less anxiety inducing, but may not help you grow much as an artist. You may not be receiving helpful feedback from people who have expertise in your field.
