The name Claire Ann Goring is synonymous with folk culture in Guyana and is one of the most recognized names in the Guyanese and Caribbean community. Her outstanding creative work has won her many accolades over three decades, putting her in the company of great cultural icons before her.
On Aug. 31, Goring received a well-deserved honor. She was presented with the Guyana Cultural Association Lifetime Achievement Award, at the 13th Annual Awards ceremony at the Brooklyn Borough Hall.
She was also presented with a Citation from Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams.
Goring is the cultural director of GCA — the organization she nurtured, and built to the prominence it now enjoys.
Quiet, and unassuming, her brilliant work in the field of visual arts, and award-winning costume designing, will go down in the annals of history, as she continues to inspire future generation of young people.
Her one-of-a kind, greeting cards, journals, programs, and iconic doll figures, have been lauded by many industry professions, and called, phenomenal.
Goring, a patriotic Guyanese-American, thanked everyone under the sun, who inspired her though her journey, and for helping her to created history on many occasions in the Guyanese community.
“I am truly humbled, and honored to receive this award,” she said.
She is the first woman to present a costume band under Solo Productions Mas in Guyana back in the 70s and 80s. She is also an innovator and creative genius in all aspects of Guyana’s arts festival.
This talented woman, used her incredible skills and ability to present masterpiece decorations, dating back to Queen Elizabeth’s Royal visit to Guyana.
Goring’s incredible work ethic, and endless determination to get the job done, in every facet of creativity at home and abroad, has made her world-renowned.
She experienced costume making in Trinidad alongside with top designers, where she mastered her skill, and later used it as a primary costume designer in the Labor Day Carnival on Eastern Parkway.
She described her design and wire-bending skills as an imagination that is inspired by the color, rhythms, and textures of Guyana.
With so many talents under her belt, Goring still finds the time as a playwright, to head productions for Bishop’s High School, her Alma mater’s tri-annual reunion, while remaining a layout artist and designer for the Annual Guyana Folk Festival over the Labor Day Weekend.
“My creativity in this sphere has established the benchmarks — the standards to be emulated in Guyanese arts festivals,” she said.
Founder of Hybiskus Creations, an online and home-based company, Goring, a recipient of a New York City Council Proclamation, and many other citations, recently received the Humanitarian Award for her Generous Acts of Benevolence to Guyana, and the Wider Diaspora, from CASSBO & Troupe at its 50th Anniversary Dinner in Brooklyn.
“I could not do it alone. I am a living example of the village that raised a child, and so I give thanks to my mother Meurah Goring, who showed me by example how important it was to use your talent to give back to the your community,” said the expert who is the driving force for Guyana’s folk life.
