CLAYTON RECEIVES 2024 DISTINGUISHED ARTIST AWARD

In November of 2024, I was humbly told that I had been nominated for and would in fact be the recipient of the Distinguished Artist Award by Frederick Community College in my home town of Frederick, Maryland. I was unfortunately unable to attend the awards ceremony, but was kindly shipped the award which arrived at my home in Los Angeles in the latter part of Dec. (Photo Above). With not being able to report anything directly related to the ceremony, I thought I would at the very least share what I had submitted to be printed under my bio in the event's program:

"Clayton Stocker Myers lives in Los Angeles, CA. He is a native of Frederick, Maryland, attending school in Frederick from birth till his time in the Arts Department at Frederick Community College, where he was honored to work with great local talent.

FCC shows include: The Shape of Things, Welcome to The Moon, and one of his personal favorites, Tape. He also played Oberon in The Maryland Ensemble Theatre's MET X production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. His time at FCC provided him several opportunities to dive into roles and explore his passion for the performing arts fully.

After his time treading the boards of the Jack B. Kussmaul Theatre, he then continued to work at the MET, most notably as Bobby in David Mammet's American Buffalo, where he would be reunited with his FCC teacher and director, Tad Janes, as a fellow cast member in the role of Don. 

Clayton has returned to FCC on several occasions to see shows, screen films he has performed in, pose for fine art classes, and support his teachers and directors, Tad Janes and Jullie Herber, whom he is blessed to call close friends to this day.

After spending many years in New York City working in film, Clayton made his way to the West Coast in 2019. He continues to hone his craft working as an actor and screenwriter, and has acted in over 50 films during his career thus far. He has been fortunate to work through a pandemic on a variety of productions and build a wonderful community of artists in LA.

While he mainly works as a film actor, he performs with an improv troupe regularly, which continues to nurture his love for live theater that began in Frederick many years ago. He is honored to be considered for this award and be supported by his hometown community."

I truly do hold my hometown near and dear in my heart. This was an unexpected acknowledgement that means more than I could have ever imagined given where it comes from. For anyone questioning taking classes at their own Community College, I highly recommend it. It's never to late to learn new things, to start over, to connect with new people and to grow your community.