Diversity in fashion is becoming more common in more fashion designers’work. CLAIRE UPCYCLED, an eco-friendly and gender-neutral clothing brand. Claire describes their clothes as ‘wearable art’ and says no one needs to identify as anything specific to wear their shirts.

Visual artist Claire Scott, founder of the local York Lane Art Collective, was a member of the jury and also submitted a colorful image of William Shakespeare her colleagues chose to include in the project.

“Of course, the (Stratford Festival) is a really strong pillar for us … and representative of our community in a way, but it’s been amazing to see how without it the arts community is still working their hardest to thrive,” she said. 

"Two local artists are nearly finished creating a mural on the side of a shipping container in a Stratford restaurant’s parking lot as part of an initiative by the Stratford City Centre BIA and the regional tourism organization to bring more public art to the city."

Scott said the realization that her creative decisions could inspire others to think about their own environmental footprint is what motivated her to offer eco-conscious artists space at the annual market when she first launched it four years ago.

“It’s a win-win situation,” she said. “It’s good for the environment, it’s good for the soul … and now the consumer has a different perspective when they’re buying.”

Inchoate, released last summer under the moniker, Waymzy, has earned Stratford musician Kyle Waymouth a nomination for best instrumental solo artist of the year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Cover art by Claire Scott.

"Welcome to A Stratford Artist Project
ASAP is an ongoing visual storytelling blog that will visually highlight individuals and business’s mainly but not exclusively pertaining to the arts. As Stratford is a world class cultural experience stories will highlight the creators of these experiences with high impact visual stories. Goals are to feature local artists and businesses to highlight people and places that are out front and behind the scenes, Stratford gems, known and unknown.
I look forward to sharing the stories with you." - Terry Manzo

"Dan Stacey, local musician, teamed up with York Lane Art Collective, a Stratford company managed by Kris Von Kleist and Claire Scott, and filmed scenes last fall throughout Stratford and Perth County for I Want My Life Back, the debut single for his upcoming full-length album."

"Thomas’s stage has also seen a transformation since last year, having recently been painted with a mural by Stratford artist Claire Scott featuring a microphone, music notes, leaves and some of Thomas’ favourite colours. Now that she will be performing from atop a work of art, Thomas and Scott have renamed the floating stage to The Just Sing Dock."

"Claire brings her interdisciplinary spirit to Stratford"