The Common Ton Collective is excited to host a 3-day camp-out collaborative retreat at The REED Center for Ecosystem Reintegration, near Middletown, MD. From August 14-16, 2026, this unique residency will focus on site-specific creative collaboration, with workshops led collectively by music and dance faculty including Erik Spangler, Talbolt Johnson, Ama Chandra, and Amber Daniels. Together with retreat participants, we’ll be developing an interdisciplinary outdoor performance for the public, featuring special dishes prepared from hyper-local food sources by chef Charmaine Baker.

Along with time devoted to creative collaboration in nature, our goal is to connect deeply with the land through collective conservation and farm work, while also building relationships with local farmers from across Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake watershed communities. The culminating public event will include a public forum focused on building a mutual aid network and exploring the creation of a local currency to strengthen our community ties.

Funds raised will directly support artist fees for our guest artist faculty, a base fee for The REED Center, renting an event tent, and providing fuel for a generator. With the funds raised here, we will seek a matching donation from an educational institution, to enable their students to take this intensive as a summer program. Your support will help us bring this vision to life and foster a vibrant, sustainable community. Every bit of support helps us to realize an event that will plant seeds for an alternative model of society at a local level—together we feed every aspect of life!