Shanta Lee Gander joins the A Sense of Place team

The Clemmons Family Farm is pleased to announce the addition of Shanta Lee Gander as managing director to help curate and manage a vibrant new multicultural arts and heritage program as part of the A Sense of Place project, funded by ArtPlace America.

In this consultant position, Gander will co-plan, co-develop and lead the coordination of African-American/African Diaspora arts and culture exhibits, presentations, performances, workshops and classes on the farm. She will also lead the project in intensifying its community outreach and mobilization around African-American and African diaspora history, arts and culture programs in six towns covered by the ArtPlace America grant: Charlotte, Shelburne, Hinesburg, South Burlington, Burlington and Winooski.

Gander is well-known and respected in the arts, literature and history communities, with established professional and social networks in Vermont and New England. She is an artist and multi-faceted professional with 20 years of experience in leadership, marketing, management, event planning and operations logistics. Gander has created strong community coalitions in Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Her project management experience also includes the creation of academic mentoring programs. As an artist, she loves writing prose, poetry and articles, in addition to theater, dance, storytelling and photography. Gander has an MBA from the University of Hartford and an undergraduate degree in women, gender and sexuality from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

About The Clemmons Family Farm
The 148-acre Clemmons Family Farm in Charlotte, owned by Jack and Lydia Clemmons since 1962, is one of the largest African American-owned historic farms in the state and celebrates African-American and African diaspora history, arts and culture. The A Sense of Place project, funded by ArtPlace America, supports the farm’s transition into an African-American Heritage and Multicultural Center through creative placemaking in partnership with Building Heritage, LLC, Burlington City Arts Foundation, Inc., Champlain College, Conscious Kitchen, and INSPIRIT, a dance company.