By Pops Peterson
Photographs by Stephanie Zollshan

Owning an upscale salon and spa in one of the most privileged neighborhoods in the country, I’ve learned that every one of our clients has a special story. And in a landscape that is predominantly white, when a person of color comes for an appointment, it really makes me wonder all about them. I had to hold back my urge to ask Gwendolyn VanSant about her story when she first visited seven years ago—for a massage and then regular blow dries—since I do have to stay professional. Through the grapevine I learned she’s the CEO of the highly esteemed nonprofit BRIDGE (formerly Multicultural Bridge), a grassroots foundation helping to integrate marginalized neighbors into our community and economy. But it wasn’t until she invited me to present my speech, “The Making of a Protest Artist,” on a roster with Angela Davis, that I found out just how truly special she is. You can get a feel for Gwen’s esteemed background from the website

“The goal of BRIDGE is to help our vulnerable neighbors feel safe and included here, with access to the assistance, tools, and guidance they need for success.”

multiculturalbridge.org (officially Berkshire Resources for Integration of Diverse Groups and Education), which lists its mission and accomplishments. Making it plain, however, the goal of BRIDGE is to help our vulnerable neighbors feel safe and included here, with access to the assistance, tools, and guidance they need for success. Since its founding in 2007, a great many individuals’ and families’ lives have been uplifted—take for example the initiatives against food insecurity, now in their fifth year.

“We serve 195 families, distributing fresh food from compassionate businesses and farms like Sweet Freedom, Three Sisters, Random Harvest, and Mumbet’s Freedom Farm,” Gwen is proud to proclaim. Along with the food, they provide diet and health information in the languages folks need. BRIDGE believes in food sovereignty, where people have agency over their food sources. They’ve worked with Greenagers and The Janey Fund to install raised beds at people’s homes, and for the last three years, they’ve worked with the owners of the Great Barrington Fairgrounds in a land-use agreement for communities of color. “We have 34 farmers growing for themselves or incubating farming businesses,” said Gwen. “For now, through grant support, BRIDGE is a guaranteed buyer for mutual aid. But our ultimate goal is to achieve integration in the agricultural sector and markets. There is real segregation now.”

The organization brings our different communities together through cultural events, as well. I had the great pleasure of being invited to one such event, in which people from the Black and Latino communities attended a concert in the Linde Center at Tanglewood. We all met for a pre-show gathering with wine and hors d’oeuvres. After being greeted by our Linde Center hosts, we introduced ourselves to one another, briefly describing our life situations. Then the group joined the mostly white audience in the concert hall, where a Black classical ensemble, Castle of Our Skins, played and sang with such passion and perfection that it surely left any classical newbies longing for more. My surprise, though, was that I myself was so utterly moved by the magnificence of the music that I couldn’t stop weeping until long after I thanked the musicians personally. Thanks, Gwen!

Strangely enough, around the same time, I was listening voraciously to a podcast called “Crime in Color,” hosted by a young queer person named JV. I was wondering where in cyberspace the show could be coming from, until JV mentioned they were in Pittsfield! I was gobsmacked when I discovered JV was Gwen’s own child! I soon discovered Gwen has four exceptional children: JV, a graduate in holistic psychology from Lesley University; Jessica, a fierce self-advocate with autism who sits cats and dogs; Maya, a pre-law student at the University of Richmond; and Westley, a football player at The Berkshire School. Gwen is married to Sam VanSant, who owns a construction company.

Gwen and Sam met in Great Barrington at a video store and were married in Lee at Llama Farm. She first arrived in the Berkshires at age 15 as a W.E.B. Du Bois Scholar at Simon’s Rock, having always been a high-achieving student under the tutelage of her father, a naval officer engineer, and her mom, who worked on several East Coast naval bases. A city champion in spelling bees and academic events in Spanish, Gwen was one of those girls most likely to succeed, and she is fully living up to her potential.

These days, when diversity is becoming “the D word,” it’s wonderful to live in a community that still understands and embraces its importance. I take great pride and pleasure in bringing diversity just about everywhere I go, and I look up in wonder at Gwendolyn VanSant, whose fight for equity and inclusion is on an exponentially higher level.

Pops Peterson is the owner of SEVEN salon.spa in Stockbridge and an award-winning artist.