Lydia Clemmons

2021 Arthur Williams Award for Meritorious Service to the Arts

Lydia Clemmons of Charlotte is the 2021 recipient of the Arthur Williams Award for Meritorious Service to the Arts for stewardship of the historic Clemmons Family Farm and for nurturing African-American and African diaspora culture across Vermont, building upon the creative vision and legacy of her parents, Jackson and Lydia Clemmons. An award-winning nonprofit, Clemmons Family Farm’s mission centers on empowering Vermont’s artists and culture-bearers of the African diaspora, building supportive multicultural communities, and stewarding the 148-acre historic farm—one of 0.4% of farms in the US that remain Black-owned.  In the video, Lydia describes the ways that the Clemmons Farm with its origins in 1962 as a family farm has now grown far beyond its early roots to become an important resource for the state and nation, as a place for people of color to celebrate and share identity, art and culture.

From a five-part short video tribute series created by Willow O’Feral and Brad Heck of Haptic Pictures, honoring each of the five awards recipients granted by the Vermont Arts Council in 2021.