Experienced Mentors

caitlin is a multi-modal artist who uses non-linear resources to create and capture alternative words. they blend conceptual and physical spaces to explore the mundane, gender, ritual and pop-culture.

caitlin is the co-founder of a DIY emerging art space and community non-profit in Omaha,NE and is an active artist advocate across regions. She also played a part in the creation of Arts & Culture districts in the state of Nebraska.

caitlin has experience in writing, producing, directing and staging immersive exhibitions, pageants, devised and traditional theatre, radio theatre, experimental sound/dance performances, orchestral/choral groups, creative youth and non-traditional fundraising experiences.

Recently, caitlin has been focused on micro-literature in the form of self publishing her own memoir zines- consisting of photography, short form prose, and poetry. In addition to this analog manifestation of memoir they have been participating and hosting story-telling events around the NH Seacoast.

Gemma Soldati is an American performing and teaching artist. Her most recent touring show was the Award Winning The Living Room–a devised clown show with Amrita Dhaliwal. She has taught in Los Angeles, New England, and Toronto for both adults and children.

Gemma’s focus is clown inspired work developed in front of live audiences. Her projects playfully dive deep into the heart of vital themes probing audiences with questions and meaning making – Grief, Ritual, Sleep, Dreams, Money, Wealth and beyond. Her current projects are The Poor Rich, an interactive clown show about the absurdity of money and The Adventures of Sleepyhead, a family show about the loss of one’s dreams, was developed at the New Hampshire Theatre Project and presented at the 2021 Edinburgh Festival Fringe by Assembly. Sleepyhead has also been adapted as a short video series for NHPBS with support from the New Hampshire Humanities.

Gemma was an artist in Residence at Het Domijn Artist Cooperative in Weesp, Netherlands in 2021 and has been a member of multiple ensembles including The Murge, The Invention of Language, and The Simple Simples. She has devised and produced several shows in Los Angeles including The Cobbler, The Sleepover Show, The Living Room and Amateur Burlesque—featured in Comedy Bureau’s 2018 “100 Best Things in Comedy.” She has studied with Paola Coletto, Deanna Fleysher, John Gilkey, Philippe Gaulier, Aitor Basauri, and Mick Barnfather. She was a recipient of a Community Grant by the New Hampshire Humanities, as well as an Artist Entrepreneurial Grant from New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. She is a member of the NH State Council on the Arts Arts in Education Roster.

Raven McGill is a mutli-disciplinary artist born and raised in New Hampshire. They are well-versed in many art forms; they have built a spaceship in the woods, painted murals, gone viral, and performed “My Heart Will Go On” on the kazoo as a clown. These days they mainly focus on visual arts and crafting for fun but are always down to plan something very extravagant.

The best thing about getting to be a teaching artist to the AIR students is getting to be inspired by so many brilliant minds! Raven is extremely grateful to be involved in empowering young people to take creativity and self-expression into their own hands and story no matter what our culture, circumstances, and bullies have to say.

Katrina has been dancing and weaving stories for as long as she can remember; performing for the rocks and trees as a small child and eventually joining the circus in New York, building giant puppets and swinging from theater rafters above the audience. She has been working with children for more than 20 years, incorporating storytelling, movement and puppetry into educational therapy and alternative forms of teaching. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Education and Human Development.

She graduated from the University of Colorado with a B.A. in medical anthropology, focusing on birth and child development across cultures. Her interest in evolutionary biology, social dynamics, and the relationship between play and learning informs the way she shapes curriculum. Stories are a huge part of this – inspiring critical thinking, collaboration, the processing of challenging experiences, and igniting a sense of wonder. She lives between Colorado and New Hampshire dancing in trees, making potions, puppets, and honing her archery skills.

Audra is a film-maker, dancer, and lover of miniature worlds. She has been working with children for many years, teaching animation, puppetry, and theater workshops across the country. In 2006 Audra graduated from the Kansas-City Art Institute with a BFA in photography and new media.

Meghan grew up in Southern New Hampshire.  Most of her early childhood she lived
on a farm where her parents grew vegetables, raised chickens, and tapped their
maple trees. Meghan loved playing with her brother and sister in the fields and
woods pretending to be animals both real and imagined, or characters from their
imaginations. This upbringing played a crucial role in her interests in the handmade
and helped shape her as an artist from a very young age.  She cannot remember a
time when she did not make things with her hands or have the desire to tell a story
through artmaking. 

Meghan received her BFA in clay and sculpture from the University of New Hampshire and later received her MFA from Boston University with a concentration in sculpture. She has been teaching art for the last 15 years and loves nothing more than spending time cultivating creative exploration with each and every artist she is able to work with. She is currently an adjunct professor of ceramics at the University of New Hampshire, and teaches and works out of her studio MudCity Clay in Rochester, New Hampshire. There, she is able to work with many different clay artists and invites organizations, such as Arts In Reach, to study and explore clay in new and exciting ways. Meghan lives in the wild woods of Barrington with her husband and young son, and their crazy dog Rita.

Rachel Pantazis is a voice coach and professional performer originally from Manchester, NH. After attending Plymouth State University for a degree in English, Rachel changed career paths to be a classical singer, musical theatre professional, and cruise line performer. Rachel has performed on ships for Carnival Cruise Lines as well as theatre venues like The Seacoast Repertory Theatre, The Firehouse Center for the Arts, The Ogunquit Playhouse, The Hackmatack Playhouse, and the Mac-Haydn Theatre. Rachel believes in a healthy mind and body as the building blocks for successful singing technique and strives to build her singers up with confidence and scientific knowledge of their instrument. Rachel continues to teach voice lessons virtually out of her own studio when she isn’t performing on the ocean!

University of New Hampshire, Bachelor of Music, Music Education

Roxanne grew up in a household that fostered a love of music (you might see her dad out and about, performing with his blues band or playing for the AiR girls). As a high school senior project, she started a choir for non-singers. Passing her love of music onto her self-named “non musical” peers was such a powerful experience that she changed her college major from performance to education. Roxanne graduated from the UNH in 2009 and has been working in the school system in some form or another since then. She is currently the music teacher at Bow Elementary School, as well as the director of both the Junior and Senior Choirs at Lee Church Congregational. When she isn’t making music, Roxanne enjoys watching football with her husband Dan, snowboarding, and playing with her adorable pug, Gronk. She is thankful for the opportunity to work with the AiR girls – it refreshed her love of music and reminded her why she decided on this career path.

Favorite Ice Cream: Cookies n’ Cream

Favorite Animal: Owl

Stephanie received a B.F.A. in Creative Writing and Performing Arts from Emerson College in Boston, MA and a B.A. in Liberal Arts from The New School for Social Research, New York, NY. Stephanie is a curriculum based Theater Workshop Teacher with the City of Portsmouth and created a workshop to fulfill a need in our educational system for increased learning through the arts. All three elementary schools in the Portsmouth school district take part in the workshops. As the Assistant Director of Education with Patrick Dorow Productions, Stephanie co-directed and developed the summer camp program, culminating in performances of two musicals, as well as co-created the after-school program for ages five through thirteen. Since 2011, Stephanie has been the After-School Enrichment Theater Teacher for the City of Portsmouth and is the Director and Creator of the Dondero Drama Club.

Elissa Margolin is a singer-songwriter from Portsmouth, NH. With 18 years of classical piano training and a passion for the acoustic guitar, Elissa blends these instruments and her lyrics with the talents of many area musicians. EDGE Magazine and the Seacoast Media Group awarded Elissa the Spotlight Award for “Best Singer-Songwriter” in 2015 and most recently named her latest CD with her band, River Sister, one of the best releases in 2017. Elissa has been a guest artist for AIR’s arts intensive 2013, SongWorks 2014, 2015 and 2016 and is the past president of the Portsmouth Music and Arts Center. You can find Elissa performing around the region with River Sister and at home practicing her cello.

Sarah Duclos is a freelance New England based choreographer and dance educator who holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Theatre and Dance from the University of New Hampshire. As a young dancer, Duclos worked directly with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange during their two year residency leading up to The Shipyard Project – sparking a lifelong interest in site-specific, community-based dance work. While studying at UNH, Duclos founded Neoteric Dance Collaborative (NEO) a multi-disciplinary dance company with a mission to stop dance from disappearing in rural and suburban communities by building community through the art of dance. NEO has performed Duclos’ choreography on stages in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and at City Center in New York City. Duclos has worked as a freelance performer and choreographer, for both theatre and concert dance, and as a dance educator, notably working as a master teaching artist for Boston Ballet’s Education and Community Initiatives, a faculty member at Phillips Exeter Academy’s department of Theater and Dance – where she served as Interim Director of Dance during the 2015-2016 academic year and internationally as a dance facilitator at the Abhainn Ri Festival of Participation and Inclusion in Callan, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland. She specializes in teaching classical ballet (Vaganova method), choreography and composition, dance history and Giordano jazz technique. Duclos was appointed to the juried New Hampshire Arts in Education Roster in 2016 and continues to produce, direct and teach with Neoteric Dance Collaborative. http://www.vimeo.com/neotericdance

Kathy Fink has been seen at many area theaters as both pianist and musical director. She is pleased to be a part of the Arts In Reach family! She teaches all levels & styles of piano in her home studio and at the Portsmouth Music and Arts Center (PMAC). Kathy co-leads the Fourth Street Jazz Choir, serves as choral instructor at the Cocheco Academy of the Arts (CATA), and is the Director of Music for St Thomas’ Episcopal Church in Dover. She has a BA in piano performance & MA in music history from UNH. Her accompanying career began at the age of 9 for the 4thgrade chorus in Leeds, England. She accompanied first full-length musical at age 15. Kathy has worked at Prescott Park Arts Festival, the Rochester Opera House, the Rep, The Bell Center, Hackmatack Playhouse, the Palace Theatre, Garrison Players, Governor’s Inn, Players Ring,& more! You may recognize her from the local band Crossfire, which she played in from 1979-1988. Kathy lives in Dover with her husband Greg, and her beagle Cookie who offers moral support!

Amanda Reimers is a singer/ songwriter, musician, black belt karate instructor, and AIR alum, who currently works as a residential rehabilitation specialist for a non-profit mental health center.

She grew up in Lee, NH participating in AIR programs throughout her adolescence, where she transformed her passion for music and the expressive arts. She earned her bachelors degree in Counseling with a specialization in Expressive Arts Therapy from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA in 2018, and has been working for Riverbend Community Mental Health in Concord, NH ever since.

She resides in Dover, New Hampshire with her husband and three furry children: two cats and one dog. When she is able to find some spare time, she loves to cuddle up with her pets, practice and teach karate with her 4th degree black belt-husband, and sing and play covers and original songs on her YouTube channel. Anyone can view her YouTube channel by clicking the following link: https://www.youtube.com/user/pianoM3Mlvr.