Ian Garrett is a designer, producer, educator, and researcher in the field of sustainability in arts and culture. He is Associate Professor of Ecological Design for Performance at York University, where is Graduate Program Director for Theatre and Performance Studies. He is the director of the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts and Producer for Toasterlab, a mixed reality performance collective. He maintains a design practice focused on ecology, accessible technologies and scenography. With Toasterlab’s Mixed Reality Performance Atelier recent work includes a partnership with Theatre Passe Muraille's Accessibility Labs to develop solutions for ASL interpretation for performance with Augmented Reality; The Right Way with DLT Experience at the Venice Biennale; Groundworks collaborating artists from Pomo, Wappo, and Ohlone communities; The locative audio project TrailOff with Philadelphia’s Swim Pony; and Transmission (FuturePlay/Edinburgh and Future of Storytelling Festival/New York). He is currently collaborating on the development of interactive e-learning resources for teaching about Eugenics in Southern Ontario. Other Notable projects related to EcoScenography include the set and energy systems for Zata Omm's Vox:Lumen at the Harbourfront Centre and Crimson Collective’s Ascension, a solar 150’ wide crane at Coachella. With Chantal Bilodeau, he co-directs the Climate Change Theatre Action. His writing includes Arts, the Environment, and Sustainability for Americans for the Arts; The Carbon Footprint of Theatrical Production in Readings in Performance and Ecology, and Theatre is No Place for a Plant in Landing Stages from the Ashden Directory. He serves on the Board of Directors for Associated Designers of Canada, was the Curator for the US for the 2019 Prague Quadrennial, and is co-chair for World Stage Design 2022 in Calgary. 

Growing up in drought conditions in Los Angeles.