{"id":107033,"date":"2025-10-29T12:42:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/107033\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T12:42:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:42:20","slug":"daniel-zeese-leaves-top-post-at-frog-hollow-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/107033\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Zeese Leaves Top Post at Frog Hollow Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel Zeese has left Burlington\u2019s Frog Hollow Vermont Craft Gallery<\/a> after nearly four years as executive director. Zeese, 37, has moved to Sante Fe, N.M, where his partner has accepted a new job.<\/p>\n

Gallery board president Kelly O\u2019Neal said in an email that she and fellow board members are grateful for Zeese\u2019s devotion to Frog Hollow \u201cand the work he did to establish a strong team, support Vermont artists through curatorial work, and further our mission of promoting Vermont craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shannon Gillespie has been named gallery manager in the wake of Zeese\u2019s October 17 departure and will share director duties with inventory and operations manager Alex Green, an arrangement, Zeese told Seven Days, that he recommended. \u201cI told the board, \u2018Not only do I trust these people, but every one of our artists trusts Alex and Shannon and has a relationship with them.’\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal did not say if the current arrangement is intended to be permanent. \u201cAlex and Shannon have been integral to Frog Hollow\u2019s success for years,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have been instrumental in running the gallery, organizing exhibitions, and helping us strengthen our ties to the community.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gillespie, 33, joined the gallery in 2022 to manage shipping and the website, which she rebuilt. An artist herself, she operates Prairi Lu Studio<\/a>, where she works in digital design and stained glass. She has a degree in animal care and education from Unity College in Maine and worked in gallery shops in Colorado and Alaska before moving to Vermont.<\/p>\n

Green, 32, has worked for Frog Hollow since 2021. The Burlington native has an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and is a ceramic artist and knitter. <\/p>\n

The nonprofit Frog Hollow Craft Association owns the for-profit gallery, which sells the work of its 117 member artists. Zeese arrived<\/a> in the wake of management turmoil, in which a former assistant manager had alleged racial discrimination by her supervisor. Frog Hollow hired a lawyer to investigate and concluded that no \u201cintentional discrimination\u201d occurred.<\/a><\/p>\n

Zeese arranged online awareness training for his staff and, Gillespie said, created a positive work environment \u2014 the best she\u2019s ever had. \u201cDaniel made this place feel so safe and structured it in a way that he valued us as people,\u201d she said. \u201cHe would make sure that we would take care of ourselves as humans first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gillespie admired Zeese\u2019s creativity, his ability to build displays for artwork and his enthusiasm for keeping the gallery looking fresh. He\u2019d come in some mornings saying, \u201cI\u2019m feeling crazy!\u201d she recalled. \u201cThat means we\u2019re going to move everything in the gallery today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zeese said he has enjoyed supporting artists and watching their work evolve. He is proud of programs he and his staff arranged, including a display of Chittenden County children\u2019s artwork in the windows of Church Street Marketplace businesses and the innovative ways Frog Hollow has helped keep downtown vibrant. For Maple Madness, a Church Street Marketplace celebration in March, Zeese arranged to bring Barre stone carver Sean Hunter Williams to town to carve a 55-pound block of butter live.<\/p>\n

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