Experience

Programs and Workshops

Common Ground on the Hill offers a wide variety of programs, ranging from jams to classes and master workshops during the program year (September - April) to weekend-long workshops to our flagship program, Traditions Weeks: three individual weeks of classes, concerts and jams each July. Visit each page below to find out more about our individual programs! Be sure to scroll down to see everything!

Landscape in Arizona borderlands, showing cacti with mountains in the distance. Some people walk through the brush.

Common Ground on the Border

January 16-18, 2025
All Day + Evening Events
The Good Shepherd UCC, Sahuarita, AZ
Tuition starts at $125
Spend a week exploring the beauties and complex issues of the Borderlands with Common Ground on the Hill, including attending Common Ground on the Border!

The Borderlands are the perfect place to explore the arts, touch the culture and have deeper conversations about the complicated issues that collide here. Common Ground on the Border & Border Issues Fair in Sahuarita, Arizona, features classes in art, music and a variety of lectures.
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A large group of Traditions Weeks attendees pose playfully on the steps of Alumni Hall at McDaniel College

Traditions Weeks

VIRTUAL June 23-27; IN PERSON July 6-11 and 13-18
9:00 AM- 5:30 PM + Evening Events
Virtual and In-Person at McDaniel College, Westminster, MD
Tuition TBA
Two individual weeks of in-depth courses in art, dance, a variety of musical instruments, film, writing, songwriting, spoken word and literary arts, and a broad range of discussion courses. Evening art lectures, concerts, dances and jams round out this extraordinary experience! College credit available. Complete your experience at the Roots Music & Arts Festival on Saturday, July 13, featuring Week 2 instructors!
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DCBU Camp

July 6-11
9:00 AM- 5:30 PM + Evening Events
McDaniel College, Westminster, MD
Tuition TBA
The  DCBU Bluegrass & Old-Time Camp boasts a top flight teaching staff who offer five separate class periods of instruction every day, Monday - Friday. Wake up Monday morning and dive into your classes, enjoy evening concerts and dances and informal playing into the wee hours....for five days and nights!  Consider attending as a family. Round out your experience with the Roots Music & Arts Festival on Saturday, July 13, featuring all the instructors you have enjoyed through the week!
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Plein Air painting students sitting in front of their work

Fall & Spring Workshops

Various
Various
McDaniel College, Westminster, MD
Tuition varies by course
Workshops happening throughout year, outside of the summer. Workshops may occur over several weeks, a weekend, or a single day. A great way to extend your Traditions Weeks experience!
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A seated group jam in the portico of Big Baker at McDaniel College during a Traditions Weeks late night jam session

Jams

1st & 3rd Wednesdays Monthly
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Westminster, MD
FREE; donations accepted
Three separate jams in bluegrass/old-time, blues/folk, and Celtic. Leaders will assist all to participate. All ages and skill levels welcome! Free, but donations are welcome. Sponsored by Common Ground Downtown, a partnership of Common Ground on the Hill and the Carroll County Arts Council.
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Zepp Center Tour members sit on a fountain with hands interlinked

Zepp Center

Dates TBA
ALL DAY
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi - Itinerary TBA
Cost TBA
The Ira & Mary Zepp Center for Nonviolence and Peace Education promotes the practice and study of nonviolence and peacemaking through workshops, courses, training, presentations, music, art, and participation in community affairs.
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