Gina Samardge (she/they, founder/director/teaching artist). Known for her warm, engaging style, Gina infuses the principles of elemental music and movement found in the Orff-Schulwerk Approach not only into her teaching, but into her performance work, bringing an honesty and presence to both stage and classroom. Gina is a big believer in the power of play and creativity found in process based arts and sees examples every day of how the arts not only empower people to find their authentic voice and share their story, but to heal themselves and this planet by creating the deep cultural shifts that are so necessary as we work toward a just, healthy, and equitable world.
After moving to New York in 2002 Gina began working with VOICETheatre, The Soon-To-Be-World-Famous Female Clown Troupe and the Main Squeeze Orchestra, as well as other theater, film, and music projects. She’s written and arranged music for theater and film and her ongoing role as the accordion toting Princess Penny made her and the clown/music ensemble, The Maestrosities, a staple in the NYC underground cirque and vaudeville scene for many years. Gina was selected as a Time Out NY Kids’ Top Choice for her sing-a-long birthday parties and in early 2012 she appeared on Sesame Street in the episode “The All Of Our Senses Club.”
As a music educator and teaching artist, Gina has worked with every age group in nearly every capacity imaginable; private school, public school, community music schools, as an outreach artist, and in a variety of arts enrichment programs. She directed The Brooklyn Conservatory Children’s Chorus, producing youth choral festivals for the Conservatory’s outreach choral programs and is a certified Orff-Schulwerk Educator. When she’s not teaching, making music and theater, or steering the CACP ship, she loves to grow veggies in her garden, study permaculture, hang with her chickens, and hike, bike, travel, and eat good food with her husband Andy. She is proudly neurodiverse and she feels an immense amount of gratitude to live in a city that values the process of creativity, play, arts making and community.
Lisa Andretta (general manager, teacher) Lisa has over 20 years’ experience as an office manager, running the ship of multiple corporations, but her heart beats across many fronts. Mother of 2 beautiful grown men that she couldn’t be more proud of, Lisa is also a baby-whispering doula and beloved nanny. Inspired by her belief in love, Lisa is a marriage officiant. She also has experience in elder care and finds it a gift to share time with, and provide care for, people at the end of life. She sings with and volunteers support for the Beacon Rising Choir – a group of women who sing with the aim of community healing. Last but not least, during the winter months, Lisa puts her love of snowboarding to good use as a volunteer instructor on the weekends!
Gwynne Watkins (she/they, theater and writing classes, administrative and marketing) Gwynne Watkins is a writer, theater artist and mom living in Beacon, New York. She is the bookwriter and co-lyricist of the widely-produced children’s musical Space Pirates! (Winner: 2015 Children’s Musical Theater Festival) and wrote book and lyrics for the 2010 off-Broadway musical Tea with Chachaji (New York City Children’s Theater). Her four original Christmas pageants (published by Beat by Beat Press) are performed annually by churches and schools worldwide. Locally, her short plays have been selected for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Community Bake-Off and the Aery One Act Play Festival. She is a graduate of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and a member of the Dramatists Guild. Gwynne’s performance credits include the original cast of Daydream, the kid-friendly adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that ran for six summers in Prospect Park. A former staff writer at Yahoo Entertainment, she has narrated many videos and conducted dozens of on-camera celebrity interviews. As a journalist, Gwynne has written extensively about the arts and popular culture for both online and print publications, and was a founding editor of the parenting website Babble.com. Her work with Compass Arts is focused on building community, encouraging creativity, and giving kids the tools they need to express themselves.
Andy Reinhardt (AKA Andy Rinehart; financial operations, tech/media, band leader) Andy is Compass Arts’ financial and operations whiz, Internet technologist and resident musician / band leader / multi-media author. Andy operated a web development business for over two decades before branching more recently into financial services and becoming Compass Arts’ chief operating officer. A graduate of the music conservatory at SUNY Purchase (focus on composition), Andy has recorded with such notable musicians as David Torn (from David Bowie’s band), and Mick Karn (of the band Japan) and has had his music released worldwide. The magazine Jazziz said of his second CD Jason’s Chord, “might be the best progressive album of the year, if not the entire decade,” and the December ’06 issue of Guitar Player held a songwriter feature examining Andy’s unique approach to writing.
Juliet Strong (musical stew) Juliet Strong has a background in folk, classical and jazz piano and voice. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area folk music scene, among a tightly knit community of folk musicians, dancers, poets, and theater artists. Juliet has a degree in vocal performance from the University of Oregon, and received actor training from California Shakespeare Theater, and Berkeley Repertory Theater. She holds a certificate of distinction in vocal pedagogy from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee College, and has taught early childhood music as a Music Together teacher. She has been seen on stages with the Oregon Festival of American Music, Shotgun Players, A Traveling Jewish Theatre, Bootstrap Theatre Company, and in Yosemite National Park. Juliet has taught students of all ages for nearly 20 years in programs and schools in California and New York City. She currently maintains a private studio in Beacon where she lives with her husband and young daughter. She believes that supporting young families and making music with young people is one of the foundations of building good citizens, and communities.
Chiara Di Lello (printing and bookmaking) Chiara Di Lello is a teacher and writer. Her poetry and essays have appeared in numerous publications, and her watercolors and art books have been showcased in Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley. Before becoming a Beacon resident in 2022, Chiara taught fifth grade full time in New York City, where she was born and raised. When not teaching or making things, she enjoys reading, spending time with her dog and improving her gardening skills.
Katey Dolezal (music, after school programs) is a classically trained musician with 13 years experience teaching elementary music in New York City and Guatemala. She studied Classical Piano Performance with Claudia Chen at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota and grew up singing in various choirs and acapella groups. She loves bringing movement to music and is passionate about helping students find confidence and joy through singing together.
Aixa Garcia (music programs) With over 8 years of experience teaching elementary music in the Hudson Valley, Aixa is a dedicated educator who loves working with children and their families. Her passion for teaching little ones began during her undergraduate studies at SUNY Fredonia, where she led early childhood music classes at the campus preschool. She holds a master’s degree in music education and continually strives to create a welcoming, engaging learning environment where families can explore music together in meaningful ways. Outside the classroom, she enjoys sewing, meditation, and songwriting, all of which inspire her creative approach to teaching.
Kevin Bertholf (he/him, dungeons & dragons) was born in the Catskills but drawn out of the hills to Beacon by an obsessive love of coffee. He is an IT professional, amateur homestead farmer, photographer, and father. In between his visits to coffee shops, you may find him running role-playing games/board games with Compass Arts or narrowly avoiding poison ivy and hornets while foraging berries. Kevin is usually the one in the overalls.
Zach Baxter (he/him, dungeons & dragons) is a Beacon resident and has been leading role-playing games for Compass Arts since 2021. Zach has found Dungeons & Dragons to be a great community builder and creative outlet for kids and adults alike. Zach is originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas, but has been in the New York area for over 10 years. He has degrees in Political Science and International Relations from American University in Washington, DC.
Cosimo Montagu (Dungeons & Dragons) is from England and has been living in the US for a decade. He is a huge board game fan and grew up creating new games every summer with his family. While not chasing his two kids around, Cosimo freelances in financial policy research, goes hiking, listens to D&D podcasts, and plays as many board games as possible. Cosimo loves being involved in the local community and leads a number of local initiatives, including the annual Riverkeeper clean up at Long Dock Park and recycling/composting efforts at the Sloop Club’s Strawberry Festival.
Andrew Gyomai (he/him, dungeons & dragons) grew up in Putnam County before making the move to Beacon in 2018. Andrew has been playing Dungeons and Dragons since he was a teenager and uses it as a creative outlet. When he’s not playing games, Andrew spends his time playing music in his cover band, the Band Hudson, working at a local coffee shop, and spending time with his girlfriend and their two cats. Having formally been a touring musician, Andrew has plenty of life experience to pull from to make interesting and engaging stories.
Chris Joslyn (dungeons & dragons) was born and raised on various banks of the Hudson River. He made his DM debut at The Underground Beacon (RIP), taking all comers to the D&D Open Game every Tuesday night. At times he imagines he’s an eccentric and grizzled old storyteller, possessed of a thunderous frown and laughing eyes, but wrapped in a kindly man’s body. With his sky high stacks of TTRPGs he means to possess his friends and neighbors with similar notions, so to build wild and poignant stories together. 
Brian Donnelly (he/they, dungeons & dragons) Born atop the peaks of the greater Catskills in the Before Times, Brian (Danger) Donnelly rose from humble beginnings to eventually grace the Beacon lands as the prophecy foretold. Skilled in the teachings of math and science, he spends his time bequeathing this knowledge to the younglings. In his nearly non-existent downtime, he writes cringey biographies and uses games to teach collaboration, morality, and empathy.