No Sleeves Magic/Art Exchange Camp Counselors

Camp Counselors are the heart and soul of the Art Exchange Program. Without these spunky individuals, our camp would be like white bread, with no nutrients to sustain us throughout the day. No, no, friends! Our counselors are like the 10-grain loaf, with loads of energy and life!

We have scoured the mountains and deserts, trekked through winds and rain, ice and snow, searching for the perfect counselors. Our travels were not in vain, for we stumbled upon a few good men, and a few good gals! We have happily listed the chosen below.



GAME TIME: After reading about the counselors, each of them has written 3 true things and one lie about themselves. Try and figure out which one is false. The answers for each counselor are located somewhere on the website. Good Luck!

Art Camp Director: Caitlyn VanKirk

Caitlyn was born and raised in the hills of West Virginia. While attending Fairmont State University, she studied speech & theatre and dabbled in ceramics. She was a member of the Alpha Psi Omega theatre honorary, won first place in the annual M. M. Neely Persuasive-speaking contest at FSU, and was named Theatre Student of the Year upon graduation. During the summer months, Caitlyn was a mentor for a non-profit organization called Energy Express, a summer enrichment program for children. As a mentor, Caitlyn created a classroom environment that stimulated children to read, write, and create art from found objects. Her students put on plays from books they read, made costumes, wrote poetry, stories and journal entries, and participated in community service. She absolutely fell in love with the program and still keeps in touch with some of her students! Beginning her senior year in college, Caitlyn was recognized for her performance in A Doll’s House and was given the opportunity to compete at the Irene Ryan Acting Competition in Birmingham, Alabama. There she met Michael Rosander, who was also an Irene Ryan nominee. The two became close friends and she was invited to Wilmington to be a counselor at the No Sleeves Magic Camp. Since then, Caitlyn and Michael have been traveling and coming up with ideas for a summer camp that would give children the opportunity to explore many different forms of art. The Art Exchange finally opened in the summer of 2007 and was a great success!

A Wilmington resident for nearly three years now, Caitlyn currently works as a mental health professional for a behavioral management agency. She and her team are excited to bring the Art Exchange Summer Camp back for another season…Look Out for The Summer of Oh-Eight!

Caitlyn VanKirk: 3 Truths & a Lie
 1. I won a persuasive speaking contest in college that began "Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.”
 2. I have been on a mule ride through the Grand Canyon. 
 3. I missed boarding a cruise ship in the Cayman Islands and wound up in Jamaica (not my original destination) with only one outfit for 3 days.
 4. I can write my name forward with my left hand and backward with my right hand, all at the same time, really fast….like a mirror image! 

Little Bunny Fufu: Myke Holmes

Myke Holmes was born a military brat and moved around the country quite a bit until his family settled down in North Carolina. He went to high school in the hills of North Carolina where he met Rosander the Magician. He attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre. During his college career, Myke also served as the Mascot for UNCW and attended the 2003 NCAA Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee to cheer on his team. While at UNCW, Myke helped create the first of many No Sleeves Magic shows and also became a cast member of The Other Side improv/sketch comedy troupe.

After graduating from UNCW, Myke moved to Dekalb, Illinois to pursue a graduate degree in Acting at Northern Illinois University. In the summer of 2006, Myke traveled to Moscow, Russia and performed at the highly respected Moscow Art Theatre. Myke graduated in May of 2007 and currently lives in Wilmington pursuing magical and comical endeavors with Rosander and No Sleeves Magic.

Myke Holmes 3 Truths and a Lie:
1. I appeared on a Crayola commercial when I was 10 years old.
2. I once won a trip to the Bahamas by winning 1st place in a lip-sync contest.
3. I met Michael Jordan and he refused to sign my basketball.
4. One time I was walking home from school and couldn’t find my house.
I thought my mom had moved away while I was at school and didn’t tell me.

Crazy Counselor: Carlos Saldaña

Carlos holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre from the University of Texas, El Paso and in May of 2007 he will have earned his Master of Fine Arts Degree in Performance from California State University, Fullerton. He has collectively been involved in approximately 40 productions either as an actor, designer, writer, or director. He has also performed coast to coast and earned national recognition, even being invited to perform at the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Carlos has done workshops, studied and worked with some of the industries top professionals. Last summer Carlos traveled to Norway and Sweden to deepen his understanding of theatre and to study the inner-workings and culture of great playwrights like Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg. Another interest of Carlos is magic. As Carlos was growing up he was fortunate enough to meet and learn/study with George, co-owner/founder of Viking Manufacturing Co. (One of the worlds leading inventors and manufacturers of magic). Carlos’s first experience with magic campers was last summer. He had this to say:

“I was blown away by how imaginative and giving all the kids were. It’s really something special to see the excitement and joy on their faces and in their hearts because I knew I was helping to affect them in a positive way. The beauty of it all is that they had no idea that they were doing exactly the same thing for me. Those kids changed me and taught me so much about what it means to be alive. They affected me in such a profound and amazing way that I don’t even have the words to describe it.”
Needless to say Carlos is excited about returning to magic camp this summer to share his knowledge, enthusiasm and creativity.

Carlos Saldana 3 Truths and Lie:
1. I can solve a Rubik’s Cube in 3 to 5 minutes.
2. As a child I used to pretend to turn into the Incredible Hulk when I got angry.
3. I once found a bottle in the ocean, while snorkeling with $5 dollars and a lot of sand in it to weigh it down.
4. At one time I was working on my certification for Hang-Gliding.

The Hulk a.k.a Brendon Murphy

Brendon Murphy has been studying magic since the age of 5. As a staff member of No Sleeves Magic, he teaches, performs, and runs video production. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with Honors in Film Studies and is working as a full-time filmmaker.

While a sophomore at UNCW, one of his class exercises was selected for the Student Showcase at the Cucalorus Film Festival. The following year, he completed special effects and animation work for the short film "Ringo," which was a big hit on the international film festival circuit. In his senior year, he directed a short comedy titled "Racing for Sage.” Other projects include a thriller shot in Valparaiso, Chile and a post-civil war period film.

Brendon Murphy 3 Truths and Lie:
1.  At age 12 was chosen from the audience to be part of a clown routine by the famous Barnum & Bailey’s Circus.
2.  Won the 2000 Upper Deck Draw Your Own Baseball Card Contest.
3.  Use to teach Salsa Dancing professionally for various clubs.
4.  First television role was on a Canadian show about ghosts.

Counselor "Lilly Bob” a.k.a Lindsey Campbell

Lilly B. hails from the great city of Cary, NC.  She graduated from UNCW in 2005 with a degree in Communication Studies and with minors in Theatre & Spanish.  She has been involved with magic camp since summer #1- first as a regular visitor/fun-haver, then to a full-time all-star counselor. 

Lilly is very much looking forward to working with the Art Exchange Campers this summer considering her love of scrap-booking, crocheting, quilting, and mod-podging. Her other hobbies include cooking, eating, sign-language practicing, and most importantly, just plain old art-ing around.

Lindsey Campbell 3 Truths and a Lie:
1. I know how to say "I love you" in ten different languages while standing on one leg.
2. My grandpa was Benjamin Franklin.
3. When I was in kindergarten, I would put a saddle on my dog's back and ride him to the bus-stop in the mornings.
4. I have caught the bouquet at every wedding I have ever gone to.

Funky Fresh Counselor: Jonathan Guggenheim

Jonathan has just moved back to Wilmington after his adventures in California! While in California, Jonathan lived right off of Hollywood Boulevard and worked with the radio station 93.1 JACK FM. He also became part of the Traveling Lantern Theatre Company and took the opportunity to tour across the U.S. for several months in a two-man show, performing an adaptation of J.R. Tolkien’s, The Hobbit. Jonathan loves racecars, ghosts, movies, writing, friends, magic, mayhem, art, and art camp. His life goal is to one day establish the Jonathan D. Guggenheim Museum of Artistically Gifted Children and Animals.



Jonathan D. Guggenheim: 3 Truths and a Lie:
1. I once owned a 1971 Pontiac GTO for one week before it rolled down
my driveway and crashed through my bedroom wall.
2. My first job in Wilmington, NC was at Chuck E. Cheese where I
dressed up as the mouse himself.
3. I have witnessed the eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano and saved
a piece of hardened lava from said eruption.
4. I am Johnny Danger of Z107.5 FM.

No Sleeves Magic Director: Michael Rosander

Michael Rosander is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre. Rosander has won a North Carolina Theatre Conference Championship along with his fellow playmakers and has been nominated for an Irene-Ryan Acting Award. While attending college, Rosander became interested in the art of magic and found that there were huge gaps between actors and magicians. This discovery fueled Rosander to write his focus thesis on developing a new art form by combining the elements of Theatre, Storytelling and Magic. He found success when after writing his one-man show, Magic Jack and the Beanstalk; he was hired to perform for several release parties of the infamous Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince Books.

Together with his best friend from high school, Myke Holmes, Rosander continued to experiment with the idea of this new performance style and it soon became popular around the city of Wilmington. Rosander also began putting together magic for adults, in which he dressed in a non-traditional attire of a t-shirt. Afterwards, people would come up to him and always ask, “How did you do that…you aren’t wearing sleeves”? Hence, the name of the company was born, No Sleeves Magic. From then on, it was always a point to do magic that made people have to think twice.

In 2004 his achievements at the university and in the community were recognized and the Chancellor gave Rosander the prestigious “Man of the Year” award. Since then, Rosander has traveled throughout several states and performed for audiences of up to 2,000 people and has even been awarded Wilmington’s Favorite Family Entertainer. The reaction from his CLEAN and CRAZY productions from both Adults and Children inspired him to open the No Sleeves Magic Camp, which continues to enroll hundreds of children every summer.

Michael Rosander 3 Truths and a Lie:
1. I’ve been on the TV show “The Price Is Right”.
2. I have a heart freckle in my left eye.
3. I once caught a 17-inch trout with my bare hands.
4. I got 47th place in the National Scrabble Championship.