Watercolor Lesson Plans

International Artists Swarm to McDaniel College for Common Ground on the Hill

Forty-two years ago, Common Ground existed as nothing more than a seed in Walt Michael’s head and as words in a letter sent to nationally recognized peace activist Ira Zepp.

The principals were firmly established: to provide the opportunity to teach and to study various musical instruments and art forms representing various ethnic and cultural traditions.

And in 1994, Michael moved to Westminster to found Common Ground on the Hill. Years later, it still perpetuates the ideas of social justice and artistic inspiration.

Common Ground is held the first and second weeks of July at McDaniel College. Artists travel from around the globe to attend the camp, and from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., attendees can learn to hone their bodies, their visual artwork or their instrumental prowess, no matter the skill level.

Though those are only the established times for courses, Common Ground continues late into the night with concerts that are open to the community, with different themes each night ranging from Celtic to Blues. There are also informal “Common Ground after dark,” sessions where musicians, poets and performers form circles in the campus gazebo or rock garden to jam and share their art.

Michael said that though Common Ground has expanded in its 17 years, there are still staple courses and lectures present that have been present since the beginning.

“We’ve always had a gospel choir and from the very beginning we had Native American Culture,” he said “The growth that has occurred is the involvement of the Carroll County public school teachers.”

Carroll County often pays public school teachers to attend Common Ground as a part of the federally mandated Diversity Training requirement. Michael said that the teachers have become instrumental in spreading the ideals of Common Ground.

“The fact that teachers are taking our curriculum, it means that the curriculum is reaching students in some way,” he said. “Whether it’s through lesson plans, Capstone projects, or their lives are changed by being around these folks.”

Michael said that he invites anyone to attend Common Ground and be a part of the experience.

“My moniker has become lately: if you think you know what Common Ground is, but you haven’t been to Common Ground, you don’t know what it is,” he said. “It’s a very broad thing. You could even go to Common Ground and know what it is by way of your experience but you’re not the migrant worker who came here and took classes in Chinese, you might be the person who came here to take Swing Guitar.

Watercolor “Crunch” – Lesson Plan | Making Arts & Crafts

Traditionally, eggshell mosaics are made by first dying then positioning each shard individually — a time-consuming and delicate process. This project introduces a new way to crush and color eggshells, creating intricate veining and texture all at once without pre-dying or arranging each fragment. The simple glue-and-paint process and satisfying "crunch!" of breaking eggshells will delight children of all ages and skill levels. For a pdf version of this lesson along with a materials list and the national standards for visual arts, visit the Blick webpage www.dickblick.

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