Teaching Artists

Selin Balci

Selin Balci is an interdisciplinary artist specializing in bio-art, a contemporary art form that combines scientific equipment and biological media with traditional art materials to create living organisms. She has a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Maryland, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from West Virginia University, and a Bachelor of Science from Istanbul University.

Since 2010, Selin has taught various art courses in Maryland, where she is a principal instructor at Prince George's Community College and Anne Arundel Community College. Selin's unique blend of scientific and artistic expertise has gained widespread recognition in bio-art.

Barbara Bustard

Barbara Bustard is returning for her 4th year with Apex Arts. Ms. Bustard is an artist, author and teaching artist. She studied ceramics under Ralph Blaney at CCBC and then moved on to study at Baltimore Clayworks. Barbara received her BA Degree in Religious Studies and Art from The University of Notre Dame of Maryland.

For over 30 years Ms. Bustard has been teaching ceramics. For many years she operated her own ceramics studio, Footedbowl Designs, offering private and group ceramics classes. Ms Bustard also taught many ceramics classes to Baltimore City students through the BrightStARTS program run by Baltimore City’s Department of Promotions and Arts in after-school programs, as an Artist in Residence, and summer camps and has been a teacher with Art with a Heart for many years. 

For three years, Ms. Bustard owned and operated The Dundalk Art School and continues to give private art lessons.

Barbara has also written and published two books, The Art of Healing, 12 Step by Step Meditative Art Exercises for Improved Physical, Mental and Spiritual Well-being and Haiku in Black and White, A Collection of 100 Haiku Poems and Black and White Photography.

Jasmine Caffee

Ms. Jasmine is happy to return to direct the Apex Arts Dance Company B for the second season. She started dancing when she was about 2.5 at National Ballet Institute for the Arts and continued her training through college at Davy Dance Academy. Ms. Jasmine has previously done competitive gymnastics for 9 years and currently has two Acrobatic Arts Certifications. Ms. Jasmine has received numerous awards such as All State Dancer and All County Dancer, while in the AACPS Apex Arts (formerly PVA) Dance Program. She has also danced competitively at an International Competition in Germany! She is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland of College Park, having studied dance. Ms. Jasmine is so excited to come back to share her love for dance with Apex Arts again.

Rachel Cagle

Rachel Cagle, an alumni of the APEX program, has been dancing for more than half of her life, has been teaching all styles of dance for the past 6 years, and choreographing dances of all kinds for the past 10 years. In her experience of dancing and choreographing, Rachel has developed a passion for movement theory and a choreographic specialty for large group dance productions. She is excited to be returning to the APEX program as an instructor to support her students development as artists as they each navigate their own creative paths and nurture their individual styles of movement. 

Francesca Chilcote

Francesca has been an Apex Arts Guest Artist for past six years, teaching devising and physical theatre. She holds a BA in Theatre from the The College of William and Mary and an MFA in Physical Theatre from the Accademia dell'Arte (Arezzo, IT). Now based in Washington, DC, she is the Co-Artistic Director of Faction of Fools Theatre Company, and has worked as an actor with the following companies: The Welders , Nu Sass Productions, Brave Spirits Theatre, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, Adventure Theatre MTC, and Discovery Theatre at the Smithsonian Institution. Francesca is a certified teacher of Elemental Body Alignment System (EBAS). Her work as an Italian translator is featured in The Routledge Companion to Commedia dell’arte.

Lynn Streeter Childress

Lynne Streeter Childress is a playwright, actor, teaching artist, singer, director, and the founder and artistic director of Building Better People Productions, an organization  based in Annapolis, MD, that uses theatre-based shows, workshops and classes based in themes of empathy,  kindness, respect and the things that make us all better people. This is her 30th year in professional theater, with much of that experience in theater for young audiences.  This includes performing at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage and Adventure Theatre, and teaching for institutions like the Folger Shakespeare Library, Everyman Theatre, and Baltimore School for the Arts. Through all those experiences, Lynne has seen firsthand how theater can communicate the most important things in the clearest and most interesting of ways, especially to young people. Lynne is on the Arts In Education roster for the Maryland States Arts Council and the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, and through Building Better People Productions, has served students served by the Arlington (VA) Humanities Project, Arts Every Day, and the Howard County Arts Council.  Lynne, along with fellow teaching artists Khaleshia Thorpe-Price and Jennifer Ridgway, facilitates Empathy Works, a program that helps organizations discover how empathetic thinking can change their company for the better.

Melissa Daoulas

Melissa Daoulas is a writer, producer, and educator that has worked in streaming platforms and television networks for almost a decade. She started her career working for National Geographic while at the University of Maryland, where she was responsible for technical video evaluations for US, International and Nat Geo WILD programming. She credits her time there as being pivotal for her love of media arts. 

Melissa continued her career in video editing and producing with National Geographic, while attending graduate school at American University. Additionally, she produced under Discovery's TLC Network, representing some of the network's biggest social media brands. 

Melissa has taught at American University as an adjunct instructor for graduate students in the Producing for Film, Television, and Video MA program. She works as a freelance producer and social media/brand manager for small businesses.

Melissa holds a Master in Arts from American University for Producing Film, Television, and Video and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland. She is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's most prestigious honor society.

Marisa Evangelista

Marisa Evangelista received her Painting BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in the Fall of 2020. She has since exhibited in several spaces, such as a two person exhibition at the American Poetry Museum in 2021 and has received awards such as 2nd Place in the Easton Plein Air Quick Draw Competition in 2024. In addition to being an artist, Marisa is also a Gallery Assistant with the Maryland Federation of Art at Circle Gallery in Annapolis, MD. 

Marisa explores her personal work through traditional and digital media. She looks forward to passing along all that she has learned and hopes to inspire prospective students.   

Julia Hawkins

Julia Hawkins received her early dance training as a member of the pre-professional Huntsville Ballet Company in Huntsville, AL. There, she received extensive training in ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, and musical theatre. She later attended the University of Alabama where she graduated with degrees in Dance and Musical Theatre. Before moving to Annapolis, Julia was located in Birmingham, AL where she was the Director of Dance and Musical Theatre at the Jefferson County Academy for Theatre and Dance for 6 years. For the past 11 years, Julia has directed, choreographed, performed, and won awards for dance and musical theatre workshops and productions across the Southeast. Many of her former students have gone on to work on cruise ships, in regional theatre, in national tours, and on Broadway.

As dance faculty for the AACPS Apex Arts Magnet Program, she trains students in daily Ballet and Modern classes, and is also the Director of the Apex Arts Dance Company. Since joining the Apex Arts Dance program, she has been grateful to help students find their artistic voice as choreographers and technically trained dancers. She is constantly inspired and driven by the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with her dancers and other artists in Apex Arts to create work that is impactful, purposeful, and meaningful to the community.

Margaret Heemstra

Margaret received her Bachelor of Art in English Literature from Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA, in 2011. There she studied American Literature, British Literature, African American Literature, Women’s Literature, and Modern and Contemporary Fiction. Margaret has been with the AACPS Apex Arts (formerly PVA) Magnet Program since 2013 and is currently the Creative Writing teacher at Annapolis High School. She has a deep love for poetry, and enjoys exploring the world of poetry and the excitement of spoken word poetry performances with her students.

Margaret received her Reading Specialist Certification through Goucher College in 2018, and is currently working towards her Masters of Education.

In 2021, Margaret was named Poet Laureate for the City of Annapolis.

Athena Hiotis 

Athena Hiotis is a musician, producer, and songwriter from Baltimore, MD. With a penchant for a wide range of music, she studied music throughout high school at the Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts magnet program, and at the University of Maryland at College Park, diving into a wide range of music eras and genres, sparking her professional career in songwriting, composition, and production.

Since 2012, Hiotis has owned and operated PopRiot Music Group, a boutique label and songwriting/production house dedicated to providing songs and compositions to artists and TV/Film projects. The mission is to make sure that artists pursue their dreams with high quality work that not only supports them but distinguishes them from other artists.

Athena is a member of RÊVE (cinematic art-rock band); Steep Steps (dark, electronic production duo); and Circuit Villains (raw, provoking rock band).

Emily Karol

Emily Karol is an actor, director, combatant, and teaching artist in the DC/Baltimore metro area. After graduating in 2001 from South River High School, Emily attended West Virginia Wesleyan College where she obtained a BFA in Musical Theater. She spent many years performing in different parts of the US. In 2009, her focus shifted to classical theater and she immediately fell in love with the complete worlds of William Shakespeare . She would become a company member with Maryland Shakespeare Festival, a resident teaching artist/actor for Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, a company member/director for the Maryland Renaissance Festival, and work with numerous other companies along the way. Emily recently won Best Stage Actor in The Baltimore Sun’s “Best of 2023” competition for her performance as the titular character in Shakespeare’s “Richard III” at the Maryland Renaissance Festival and The Strand Theatre in Baltimore. 

At Studio 39, Emily directed the main stage production of Peter and the Starcatcher, co-directed the devised pieces of Six Clowns Walked Into The Bard, Theatre for Sleepy People, and SAD Clown Cabaret. She also mentored students through the first two Apex+ Original Plays, "Sleepy Hollow" in the Fall of 2022 and this year's "The Mysterious Case of the Red Death".

Susan Lennon

Susan Lennon brings a wealth of experience and boundless energy to her artistic pursuits.  For 25 years, she thrived in the commercial art world as an art director and illustrator, working in both information technology and gift manufacturing.  Today, Susan is a dedicated fine artist, showcasing her work in professional exhibitions.

But Susan's journey extends far beyond the canvas.  Her insatiable curiosity has led her to explore a multitude of passions: retired windsurfing instructor, web/software GUI designer, 10-year professional rider of racehorses, billboard designer, color & brand consultant, master kite maker, and award-winning spinner of yarns – to name just a few.  This diverse background provides Susan with a rich tapestry of life experiences that infuses her artwork.

Susan's characters are imbued with life, forging a powerful emotional connection with the viewer. Her unwavering focus on her artistic passion translates into meticulous attention to detail, ensuring her work resonates with unexpected tenderness.  Spark a conversation about something that ignites your own passion, and witness Susan's eyes light up as her imagination takes flight.  She'll weave a captivating storyboard of vibrant characters, bringing your story to life within her mind.

Jamie Levine

Vocal Music

jboconnor@aacps.org   

Mezzo-soprano Jamie Levine joined Apex Arts in 2021. She most recently received recognition by both The American Prize in Voice and New York Lyric Opera Theatre Competition for her performance of works by Strauss, Mozart, and Wagner. 

A native of Baltimore, Ms. Levine  earned her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Alabama under the tutelage of Dr. Paul Houghtaling. 

Jamie B. Levine  maintains a private voice studio in Annapolis, MD, previously having studios in Ellicott City, MD, Tuscaloosa, AL, Springfield, IL, and Miami and Tallahassee, FL.

She is an Applied Vocal Instructor and a Teaching Artist for the Apex Arts Magnet Program at Anne Arundel County Public Schools. At Apex Arts, Mrs. Levine maintains a voice studio and teaches courses in Musical Theatre Performance, Pop/Rock Performance, and Audition Technique.

Ms. Levine  has previously served as an Adjunct Voice Instructor at Carroll Community College, the head of the voice program at The Music Factory in Springfield, IL, and served on the faculty at The Stubbs’ Music Center in Tallahassee, FL.  

Levine ’s students have been accepted to vocal performance programs and musical theatre programs around the country including Berklee College of Music, Peabody Conservatory, University of Maryland, Chicago College of Performing Arts, University of Georgia, Oberlin Conservatory, University of the Arts, and Towson University.

Ms. Levine  has students in various suburbs of Annapolis including Severna Park, Arnold, and Cape St. Claire.

Ryan Macauley

Ryan Macauley received her Bachelors in Game Art from Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota FL, 2023. During her time at Ringling, she studied the art of making video games, and her 2023 thesis featured a fully hand-painted stylized mystery game.

In addition to video games, she studied the history and fundamentals of comic books. Creating two short graphic novel stories by her senior year.

She is an alumni of APEX Arts (formerly PVA), and after studying under industry professionals she is excited to come back and share her love of storytelling with APEX Arts once more.

Lukas MacKinney

Lukas MacKinney is a filmmaker, sound artist, and multimedia educator from Baltimore MD, currently located in Los Angeles. They love experimental films, analogue sound design, and writing short poems.

Emily McCort

She graduated from Towson University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Theatre: Design and Production. 

Emily McCort is a costumer and teaching artist in the DC metropolitan area. Since 2016, she has taught various sewing, costume design, and fashion history classes with AACPS’ Apex Arts Magnet Program. She has served as their costume shop manager and costume design mentor and is now the Design & Production teacher.

 When not teaching, Emily has worked backstage & in costume shops for various regional theatres including Arena Stage and Olney Theatre Center. 

Clay Michalec

Clay attended Lebanon Valley College where he graduated in 2006 with a B.S. in Music Education and a B.A. in Music. He double majored in trumpet and voice. He earned the Master of Music degree in Conducting from Messiah University in 2017.

Clay is thrilled to be part of the Apex Arts team. He taught for AACPS as a Band & Orchestra Director from 2011-2022, and he currently serves as the Director of Vocal Music at Broughton High School in Raleigh, NC. Clay is also an adjunct community college instructor, teaching Music Appreciation at Durham Technical Community College.

Outside of education, Clay is an active performer, singing with the Concert Singers of Cary (Cary, NC) and playing trumpet with the Triangle Wind Ensemble (Raleigh, NC). When he's not performing, he can be found traveling, taking a yoga or CrossFit class, playing video games, or spending time with his partner and their cats. 

Jennifer Marie Rivera

Jennifer Marie has a Bachelor of Arts in classical vocal performance and had an early career singing classical music. After a hiatus to raise her family, Jennifer returned to the local music scene teaching commercial voice and coaching youth rock bands.

Jennifer has directed the Apex Commercial Band since it's inception in 2020. 

Mary Rosoff

Mary Rosoff, an art teacher in Anne Arundel County Public Schools for over thirty years, has collaborated with numerous community arts programs including Creating Communities, Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts and Future History Now. Besides working with youth, Mary has shared her artistic and instructional skills with seniors in Crofton and is on the board of directors of the Annapolis Arts Alliance. Mary holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master's Degree of Education and taught at the Performing and Visual Arts program of AACPS for ten years. She currently teaches at Art Farm in Annapolis.

Shoshana Schlauderaff

Shoshana is a multi-disciplinary artist, designer, and educator. They value cross-disciplinary art making, integrative learning spaces, and accessible classroom content. They have been a Guest Artist for Apex Arts since 2019. 

Outside of teaching Shoshana is a freelance artist, meditation class facilitator, and painter. They hold a BFA in Animation from The Maryland Institute College of Art. Shoshana’s past works include astrophysics animation for NASA Goddard, social media design work for The Maryland Institute College of Art, teaching experience with Digital Harbor in Baltimore, and Creative Direction for The Queer Futures Collective.

Robert Schumacher

Robert Schumacher is an actor and freelance artist, specializing in portraiture, in the DC area.  He studied drama and philosophy at the Catholic University of America, as well as previously studying acting and studio design at Concord University in WV.  Professionally Robert taught art classes for Synetic Theater, and has performed with several local theaters in the DC area.  Robert found his joy for teaching while at Synetic Theater, interacting and educating students there for several summers.  He brings his experience in acting, painting, drawing, and writing here to encourage students to create and bring their imagination and stories to form.

Lynn Schwartz

Lynn Auld Schwartz is a writer, story development editor, and has ghostwritten three books. Schwartz’s plays and staged readings have been performed in Atlanta and New York City, including the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center. She founded the Temple Bar Literary Reading Series in New York City, which The Village Voice reviewed as “Lively lineups … always smart, never predictable.” Schwartz has received two Individual Artist Awards in Fiction from the Maryland State Arts Council and a Literary Arts Annie Award from the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County. Her stories have appeared in literary journals and she has published numerous nonfiction lifestyle articles. She produces and directs the ongoing Page To Stage series in Annapolis, which offers adult and teen writers the opportunity to share their stories on stage.

A graduate of The City College of New York (MA, Writing/Literature), Columbia University (BA, Writing/Literature), and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre (a two-year acting conservatory where she studied the Meisner technique with William Esper and Sanford Meisner), Schwartz has taught writing at St. John’s College, The Writer’s Center, Maryland Hall, and is often a guest speaker at writer’s conferences and literary events. Her business, Writer’s Wordhouse, provides individual coaching and story development for fiction and memoir. She is the co-founder and co-organizer of the Writing Intensive at St. John’s College. As a guest artist (and parent of a PVA graduate), she has had the great privilege to work with Apex Arts students for 10 years.

Atalante Shay

A first-generation American born to a Greek father and German mother, Atalante (Hain-Kaparakis) Shay began to draw and paint as a young child growing up in Hyattsville, MD. She continued her formal visual arts studies at Northwestern High School and Virginia Commonwealth University.

The natural world in her immediate surroundings serves as an inspiration for much of her work. The family garden is a vast topography brimming with tiger lilies, hydrangeas, lavender, mint, sunflowers, a little bubbling fish pond, and a butterfly bush mixed with outdoor sculpture and artwork.

This living natural canvas is translated through mediums in acrylic, drawings, and lithographs—the secret life of flowers revealing Atalante's internal landscape of personal growth, muses, and emotions.

Atalante has entered her artwork in juried art shows and craft fairs through the Annapolis Arts Alliance, Chesapeake Art Center, Baltimore County Arts Guild, and Arts Council of Anne Arundel County.

Recently, she had the honor to be a guest artist at Studio 39 here in Annapolis, teaching watercolor techniques to Apex Art High Schoolers. 

Dr. Kari Shea

Dr. Kari Shea is a freelance bassoonist and educator in the Maryland, Metro D.C. area.  Currently performing as bassoonist and contra bassoonist with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony, the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and as a member of the Gallery Winds Woodwind Quintet, she teaches at Anne Arundel Community College.

Dr. Shea has performed throughout the United States and Europe with such ensembles as the Forest Philharmonic in London, England, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Opera, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, the Mississippi Symphony and the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra.  She has also performed on chamber concert series in France, Sweden and Nova Scotia and has served as a faculty member of Millikin University and Frederick Community College. Dr. Shea holds degrees from the University of Illinois (D.M.A.), the State University of New York at Stony Brook (M.M.), and the University of Southern Mississippi (B.M.ed).

Johnny Weissgerber

Johnny Weissgerber is an professional actor and union theatrical scenic artist and muralist, who works in the DC area. 

He studied acting and musical theatre at Marymount Manhattan College. 

His professional experience includes, theatrical artist for Signature Theatre, FX make-up artist, puppeteer, screenwriter, and carpenter. 

He brings this experience to classes on painting, make-up, acting, and design and production. 

Johnny is a big believer in the artistic collaborative process and encourages his students to explore their art forms together.

Emily Zinski

Emily Zinski is a professional actress, singer, recording artist, and teacher with international experience.

Emily earned her BFA in Musical Theatre from Syracuse University, and went on to study and perform with Broadway artists in New York City. A dynamic vocalist, Emily has mastered pop, rock, acoustic, musical theatre, and classical singing styles. Her versatile voice can be heard in major theatrical shows, cabarets, cruise line productions, bands, and original albums.

Emily studied Film & Television in Los Angeles with the SU in LA program. There, she learned acting technique as well as casting & production knowledge from leaders in the industry. Emily can be seen in feature films, commercials, indie shorts, and web-series produced around the country.

Emily’s acting and vocal experience led her to Edge Studio, where she studied voiceover technique. She works as professional voiceover artist, and can be heard in radio commercials, audiobooks, and eLearning courses.

Finally, Emily has a passion for teaching. She has worked as a professional ESL teacher since 2017, helping students around the world learn to express themselves in English. Additionally, Emily teaches voice, acting, and audition technique. She coaches privately and in groups. With young students, Emily’s main goal is to develop confidence, not only in their skills, but in their value as artists. She feels so fortunate to share her hard-earned knowledge with the next generation of performers.

This is Emily's third season with Apex Arts. 

William "Billy" D'Eugenio

William K. D’Eugenio is a Helen Hayes Award winning Lighting & Sound Designer based in Washington DC. 

He was involved in the arts magnet  expansion to the Studio 39 campus in 2014. Since then, he has guided all theatrical equipment upgrades, been a mentor to student designers through the production process, and has guest designed for several shows. 

His recent regional lighting credits include:Trying, The Brothers Size (1st Stage); The Explorers Club (Prologue Theatre); Native Son (Mosaic Theater); 12 Angry Men (associate LD, Ford’s Theatre); Diana Ross & the NSO, An Evening with Norm Lewis, RIOT! Women in Comedy Festival, Ava DuVernay: 13TH, The REACH Opening Festival Mainstage, NSO: Apollo 11 - A 50th Anniversary, Long Way Down, August Greene, Tituss Burgess in Concert, Hannah Gadsby - Douglas (The Kennedy Center); Agnes of God, Lela & Co (Factory 449); Cinderella (Imagination Stage); The Events, Mnemonic, Still Life with Rocket, Word Becomes Flesh (Theater Alliance). 

His work as sound designer/composer has been heard for: Souvenir, True West, The Other Place, and Circle Mirror Transformation (Rep Stage), among others. 

He is a proud member of USA829, the designer's union.

Emily McCort

She graduated from Towson University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Theatre: Design and Production. 

Emily McCort is a costumer and teaching artist in the DC metropolitan area. Since 2016, she has taught various sewing, costume design, and fashion history classes with AACPS’ Apex Arts Magnet Program. She has served as their costume shop manager and costume design mentor and is now the Design & Production teacher.

 When not teaching, Emily has worked backstage & in costume shops for various regional theatres including Arena Stage and Olney Theatre Center. 

Alexis Sheeks

Alexis Sheeks graduated from University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in 2018, with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre where she focused on lighting and projection design. 

Currently she freelances at UMBC as an events technician and at Everyman Theatre as an electrician. She has also worked as a projection consultant and as a finals advisor for her alma mater Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts.

Johnny Weissgerber

Johnny Weissgerber is an professional actor and union theatrical scenic artist and muralist, who works in the DC area. 

He studied acting and musical theatre at Marymount Manhattan College. 

His professional experience includes, theatrical artist for Signature Theatre, FX make-up artist, puppeteer, screenwriter, and carpenter. 

He brings this experience to classes on painting, make-up, acting, and design and production. 

Johnny is a big believer in the artistic collaborative process and encourages his students to explore their art forms together.