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DEDICATED LEADERS IN ARTS EDUCATION
CAPE's key staff members come from a variety of professional backgrounds. They bring a unique blend of talents to the organization.

With experience in arts education, visual arts, performing arts, education and research, they provide CAPE with knowledgeable leadership and direction. As needed, CAPE also utilizes consultants, brought on board to provide specialized input and skills.

CHICAGO ARTS PARTNERSHIPS IN EDUCATION (CAPE) PERSONNEL

Arnold Aprill, Founding and Creative Director of CAPE, comes from a background in professional theater as an award-winning director, producer and playwright. He has taught at the University of Chicago, Columbia College, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is one of the co-authors of Learning Partnerships: Improving Learning in Schools with Arts Partners in the Community, published by the Arts Education Partnership, and is one of the co-editors of Renaissance in the Classroom: Arts Integration and Meaningful Learning. He consults nationally and internationally on the role of the arts in effective school improvement. He has been recognized for exceptional leadership by the Chicago Community Trust and by the Leadership for a Changing World initiative supported by the Ford Foundation.

Amy Rasmussen serves as Executive Director of CAPE and is responsible for strategic planning, fundraising, marketing & financial management. Amy joined CAPE in 2000 after working with the Chicago Chamber Musicians for six years. She also serves as a consultant to non-profit organizations, including the Japanese American Service Committee and the Chicago Human Rhythm Project. Amy holds an M.A. in Arts, Entertainment & Media Management, and a B.A. in Music from DePaul University. She is a musician, performing classical to pop music in a variety of settings. In 2005, she co-founded the Ravenswood Community Orchestra in Chicago.

Kelly Nespor is CAPE’s Office Manager, responsible for the organization’s day-to-day operations. Prior to joining CAPE's staff, she worked in the communications department of an international insurance brokerage firm. Kelly holds a B.A. from the University of Chicago and an M.A. from Northwestern University.

Yanira Cirino serves as CAPE's Development Associate. Her responsibilities include fundraising and database management, special events coordination, as well as marketing and communication efforts for the organization. Yanira had her first experience in the arts education field in 2005 as a Docent for the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. Before joining CAPE in 2006, she also spent four years traveling the world as a flight attendant for United Airlines. Yanira holds a B.A. in Public Communication from the University of Puerto Rico and an M.S. in Nonprofit Management from the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (also in Puerto Rico).

Alice Magelssen is the Administrative Assistant at CAPE, providing the organization with general office assistance. She is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago, where she earned her undergraduate degree in English and Spanish. She comes from a background in theater, having worked for A Red Orchid Theatre and Emerald City Theatre as well as freelancing for other theater companies in Chicago.

Scott Sikkema serves as CAPE’s Education Director. Scott brings over two decades experience to his position, including stints at Kohl Children’s Museum and the Terra Museum of American Art. Scott oversees program development, implementation and management, professional development,and the implementation of documentation and research at CAPE. He works closely with Mark Diaz, Hilesh Patel, and Laura Tan in these endeavors, and on CAPE’s exhibition practice. A past member of the Illinois Art Education Association Board, he also plays an advisory role as Education Committee member for Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. In 2007, he received his highest honor, being named an Honorary Re-Settler by the Japanese American Service Committee.

Mark Diaz serves as Program Associate at CAPE. Prior to CAPE, he was Development Director/Media Instructor for Cooperative Image Group, as well as a teaching artist for CAPE. He has also been Business Manager and Arts Instructor at Street-Level Youth Media, and a Co-Director at OpenSource Art. Mark received a Master of Fine Arts in Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is an artist in Chicago.

Hilesh Patel joined CAPE in November 2008 as a Program Associate. Hilesh has an extensive background in alternative high school education, as well as teaching visual art and video in after school programs. Just prior to CAPE, Hilesh was teaching at the non-profit arts organization Marwen and working as a substitute teacher at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. At CAPE, Hilesh will primarily be working in the after-school program SCALE (Supporting Communities through Arts Learning Environments). Hilesh holds a B.A. in English from Illinois State University.

Laura Paradis serves as CAPE's Research Associate. Prior to CAPE, she served as Program Officer for Partners for Livable Communities in Washington, D.C., where she studied, documented, and provided assistance to neighborhood-based art programs under a Ford Foundation initiative on Art, Culture, and Neighborhood Change. Laura considers herself a maker of many things and freelances graphic design services to other passionate craftspeople and artists. She holds an M.A. in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in English with Honors in Creative Writing from Brown University.

Rashida Walker serves as a Program Associate at CAPE, supporting the International Baccalaureate Teaching Arts Project (IB-TAP), among other program initiatives. She has a background in arts, non profit, and museum administration, having worked with such organizations as Chicago Children's Museum, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, and the Institute of Jazz Studies. She is also an emerging Jazz Vocalist. Rashida holds an M.A. in Jazz History and Research from Rutgers University and a B.A. in English from Oberlin College.
 

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