Phylicia Ghee is the recipient of the 2020 Elizabeth Talford Scott Scholarship bestowed annually by her daughter Joyce J. Scott at Common Ground on The Hill. Phylicia Ghee is an interdisciplinary visual artist and photographer; her artwork documents transition, explores healing, ritual, ceremony & personal rites of passage. Phylicia is interested in the intersection between the physical and the spiritual. Her work serves as both a medicine and a vehicle for epigenetics & neuroplasticity. ​Taught by her Grandfather at a very early age, Phylicia works in photography, performance, video, fibers, mixed media, installation & painting. She earned her BFA in Photography with a Concentration in Curatorial Studies from MICA in 2010. Phylicia has curated numerous exhibitions, events and public programs centered around issues of identity, healing and community. She has also exhibited in various galleries and museums some of which include The Baltimore Museum of Art, Galerie Myrtis (Baltimore MD), The Egyptian Embassy (Washington, DC), The Margulies Warehouse (Miami, Florida) and Studio Art Centers International (Florence, Italy). Phylicia Ghee was named ‘2019 Best of Baltimore' in the category of Artist. See her work at https://phyliciaghee.carbonmade.com/

Clyde Johnson is the recipient of the Scott Scholarship in the Visual Arts at Common Ground this summer. He is a college diversity administrator by day, budding art jeweler by night and weekend! For seven years he explored metals fabrication at the MICA Jewelry Center in Baltimore, MD, earning his certificate in Jewelry Design. His love of casting and stone setting was birthed by Shana Kroiz, Jewelry designer/Teacher; but his “consciousness work” has been nurtured and emboldened by his mentor Joyce J. Scott. Joyce taught him that oversize, bold and Black isn’t a bad thing - it’s a necessary creative thing to deliver to the world that uniqueness that has been in your personal DNA for centuries. "I love to create work, not necessary for people, but I love to use people’s bodies as my canvas to display my work.” ​Clyde wanted to be a mortician when he was a young child but was told by his parents that he had to earn a four-year degree first. He earned a Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology and started a career as a psychologist, but never lost his love for death culture. Over the years, his work has been about creating reliquaries and memorials to Black and Africans ancestors, particularly those lost by racial violence. Recently he received his African Ancestry DNA results and found out that his family origins are from Gabon West African, a culture steeped in creating reliquaries. “It was a shock and an eye opener to discover that my artist practice binds me to a country I’ve never seen. “

Kylis P. Winbourne is a Baltimore, MD, artist and has worked in various mediums for the last forty plus years. He graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art. He worked at the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting as a graphic designer and received many awards for design. He became a staff artist at WJZ-TV. He has participated in many exhibitions of his paintings and drawings. Kylis' compositions have been characterized as intensely vibrant colors with bold form and structure. More recently, he was worked in the digital genre creating work that explores the making of art using twenty-first century implements.

Shodekeh is a ground-breaking beatboxer and vocal percussionist who has been pushing the limits of the human voice for over a quarter century. Currently on the faculty of Towson University, Shodekeh is also the Founding Director of Embody, a festival of the vocal arts. In recent years, Shodekeh has moved from Beatboxing's Hip Hop roots to explore innovative collaborations with a wide range of traditional artists, including Tuvan Throat Singing, Lithuanian Folk Music, Experimental, Funk, Jazz, Rock, Classical, Ballet and various forms and techniques of Modern Dance. He is constantly striving to rhythmically channel the vast spectrum of sounds around him, not just through music, but also via the channels of science, culture, history, mathematics and ethnomusicology.

Calvin McCormack is a jazz guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator from Baltimore. A recent graduate from the School of Music, Theater and Dance at the University of Michigan, Calvin received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz Studies this past summer. In the summer of 2012, Calvin studied Carnatic music, specifically the Saraswati Veena, in Mysore, India. Since graduation, Calvin has returned to Baltimore, teaching and performing regularly throughout the area. This past year, Calvin has written a guitar method book: Guitar Treks: A Guitar Guide for Beginners, which is due to be published in the summer of 2015.