A large part of the activities in the SCA are listed under the heading Arts & Sciences, or A&S for short. Arts and Sciences are any kind of productive art, craft, or study that can be found within our historical time span. If someone did it in history, chances are that someone is doing it in the SCA. The amusing part of this philosophy is that some SCA artisans actively enjoy doing things that people in history would have considered work!
SCA arts and sciences include, but are not limited to: woodworking, metalworking, needleworking, bardcraft, heraldry, calligraphy, illumination, poetry, sewing, weaving, perfuming, soap making, playing music, dancing, pottery, enameling, cooking, brewing and vinting, and/or the study and research of these.
We currently have one scheduled A&S class per month, traditionally held on the third Tuesday. Recently classes have included hatmaking, brewing, felting, arrow-making, and glass bead-making. Sometimes we have guest lecturers, and other times members of the province teach the class.
Some groups of artisans form formal or informal guilds in order to focus resources on whatever craft they are pursuing. In Mooneschadowe, active guilds include brewing and vinting, armoring, illumination and calligraphy, music, dancing, sewing, weaving, cooking, and others. Some guilds have scheduled monthly meetings; see the calendar for more information. Of course, many individuals practice arts and sciences for which there is no guild, but they are always happy to share knowledge.