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Staff

Leaders in Arts Education

CAPE’s key staff members come from a variety of professional backgrounds. They bring a unique blend of talents and a strong commitment to arts integration to their work.

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. Contact CAPE staff at info @ capeweb.org.

Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) Staff

Amy Rasmussen

Amy Rasmussen joined CAPE in 2000 and now serves as its Executive Director. She has guided CAPE through a period of substantial programmatic and financial growth. Under her tenure, CAPE has quadrupled the number of schools it serves, its staff and budget. Amy holds an M. A. in Arts Entertainment and Media Management from Columbia College and a B. A. in Music from DePaul University.  Amy is committed to improving the policy environment for arts education. She is on the Advisory Board for the Chicago Arts Educators’ Forum, and the Union League Club of Chicago’s Safe Youth Chicago Initiative, and the Marian Catholic High School Metro Chicago Alumni Association. In addition, she is on the board of The Orange School in Chicago – an arts-based charter school.

Arnold Aprill

Arnold, Founder and Lead Consultant 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.

Barbara Carter Berger

Barbara is CAPE’s Director of Advancement. In that capacity, Barbara assists CAPE in telling its extraordinary story to an increased community audience and a growing number of donors. Barbara was most recently Director of Development and Marketing for the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, where she led a $40 million capital campaign as well as a major marketing effort that attracted more than 12,000 people to the museum’s 2009 grand opening. She holds an M.S. in Non-Profit Management from National Louis University and a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Illinois.

Kelly Nespor

Kelly 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.

Alice Magelssen

Alice 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

Scott 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. 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

Mark is a Program Associate at CAPE. Previously, 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

Hilesh 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.

Rashida Walker

Rashida 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.

Jessica Munguia

Jessica Munguia is a Program Associate at CAPE, supporting the new Portfolio Design project. Prior to CAPE, Jessica was a teaching artist at After School Matters, as well as for CAPE. An artist who exhibits locally and nationally, Jessica’s work is a part of a permanent collection at the Library of Congress and the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. She holds a B.F.A. from the American Academy of Art and is a committee member of the Blue Island Arts and Culture Committee She also partners with Horace Mann School to foster community involvement and arts in education.

Joseph Spilberg

Joseph Spilberg serves as CAPE’s Research Associate. Joseph previously worked as a Research Assistant for CAPE’s PAIR Program and was the Program Assistant for the City of Evanston’s Cultural Arts Commission. He also co-founded Intercultural Music Production, which provides music workshops and presentations in Chicago Public Schools. Joseph is a multi-instrumentalist and taught at the Old Town School of Folk Music and in CAPE’s SCALE Program. Joseph holds a B.A. in French from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is currently pursuing a M.S. in Nonprofit Management from the Spertus Institute.