Attending Heritage School of Interior Design is not the first time that Denver student Claudia Folk Wright has tapped into her creative side.  Her childhood was spent in Germany exploring Europe with her family, where she was exposed to culture and art early in life.  When her father’s job moved the family to Colorado Springs at age 10, her creative side continued to be nurtured and developed through training in the musical and visual arts.  Claudia’s mother supported her love for creativity by always keeping their home stocked with top-notch art supplies and enrolling her in extracurricular lessons and activities that continued to help her develop her creative skills.  

Claudia has always had a love for Interior Design.  Like many Heritage students, she remembers spending many hours redecorating her room as a kid.  Her years of traveling filled her heart and mind with inspiration.  She recalls sleepless nights trying to recreate something she saw in a museum or a castle or a magazine, sewing up a pillow from an old dress, or standing on tiptoes on the edge of the bedrail trying to staple a piece of cloth to the ceiling. Claudia’s desire to create and beautify the space around her never disappeared. To this day, no room in her house is safe from a redesign frenzy.

Claudia’s love for the arts lead to her earning a BA in Vocal Performance from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. Claudia’s incredible vocal skills have allowed her to perform and record with some of the most notable symphonies in the world, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, and the Berlin Philharmonic.  Before attending Heritage, she spent ten years moving around the country singing with different professional groups until ultimately settling in New Orleans with her sister. After Hurricane Katrina, Claudia and her sister moved home to Colorado to be closer to family.  After her move back to Colorado, she spent the following decade singing on the staff for St. John’s Cathedral downtown. Today she still sings professionally for St. Martin’s Chamber Choir and the Denver Early Music Consort. 

In addition to a singing career, Claudia has spent the last four years as the Administrative and Site Manager for a company that rents upscale, customizable suites to small businesses. As the only employee, Claudia was able to gain extensive experience managing her own time and projects. Her favorite part of the job however was always the opportunity to help renter’s decorate their suites.  Being part of the design process reignited her passion for interior design. 

While helping renters design their spaces, she noticed how much she enjoyed helping others express themselves in a creative, visual, and emotional way. When she discovered the program at Heritage, everything seemed to click and her path to Interior Design revealed itself like it had always been waiting for her.  

As Claudia navigates her way through Heritage’s accelerated Interior Design program, she recognizes that the process of starting over on a new career path is terrifying and daunting.  And yet, she is still overcome with excitement and a hunger to learn. Claudia appreciates how the supportive staff and instructors help to foster her learning and encourage her success.  

Claudia describes this experience as a journey of emotions.  She has gone from: 

“Wondering how I am going to possibly keep up the schedule, to embracing the process, to suddenly fearing it being over.”

Despite the intense workload and schedule, Claudia feels that attending Heritage is one of those singular, remarkable experiences and a time in her life she will never get to experience again. 

Since beginning the program at Heritage, Claudia’s eyes have been opened to so many fascinating and exciting opportunities in the design world.  Claudia is a believer in organic process and can’t wait to see which direction she will go in after graduation. As of right now, “she wants to try it all!”