Windsor mom keeps performing arts academy running despite early challenges

As Windsor’s Got Talent nears, Heather Cullen finds herself biting her nails.

The talent show raises money for the Windsor Performing Arts Academy, a nonprofit she co-founded to support music, drama and dance programs at local elementary and middle schools.

“We invented the talent show as our only fundraiser,” Cullen said. “Last year we made $1,000, though sometimes we only earn $100.”

This year’s show will feature 18 acts. Each family-friendly skit will be three to five minutes long.

“Keep it delightful, thoughtful and funny,” Cullen, 52, tells participants, who in past years have played musical instruments and performed original skits, songs and dances, including ballet folklórico.

Around 2009 Cullen and two other Windsor mothers, Misty Bastoni and Nancy Knolle Craighill, created the academy out of a need for an affordable theater arts program for their daughters.

They wanted an acting camp for their daughters, who were friends and in the fourth grade. The girls already were creating “hilarious movies,” as well as performing skits for their families. When the women went in search of a theater program, they found tuition cost too much - between $400 and $500 per child. So they created their own program.

Bastoni served as the choreographer, while Knolle Craighill handled the business end of the Windsor Performing Arts Academy.

Cullen, who previously had started a children’s community choir, thought she was just along for the ride. But she ?ended up working on the musical portions of the productions, as well as being the creative “kid herder.”

The academy went on to produce “Bugsy Malone” the first year. The single performance was a success, and the group later realized they should have held additional performances.

The children practiced at the Windsor High School theater and performed at the historic Windsor Presbyterian Church on Windsor River Road. The second year, they presented “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Although the women initially set out to find an affordable theater program for their daughters, it cost them “thousands” to run the academy, Cullen said. They dipped into their family coffers to cover expenses, including the licenses for the plays.

In their third year, Bastoni landed a job and no longer could do the choreography. Knolle Craighill then moved to Gilroy.

“I thought that was that,” said Cullen, as she prepared to say goodbye to the academy. “I was only the helper, I couldn’t do this alone.”

And, then came the calls.

“What’s the play going to be this summer, Heather?” asked one parent. The woman was distraught.

“You changed my child’s life,” Cullen recalled the parent saying. Similar calls kept coming. Cullen said she couldn’t abandon the children who depended on the program, so for help with the business side of the academy she called Knolle Craighill, “who started walking me through it.”

It wasn’t the first hardship Cullen faced in life. A resilient woman, she and her family spent more than a year living in their car after her husband lost his civil engineering job with the state, which faced a severe budget shortfall in 2002.

They moved to Oregon to be near her parents, but after four months drove across the United States in search of job opportunities.

They homeschooled their children while on the road, and when they returned to Windsor. The youngest, Ephraim, is now 16 and at Brigham Young University, which his other siblings, Autumn, 24, Spring, 22, and Benjamin, 21, also attend. He was just 8 months old when the family left California. He was 2 when they came back to Windsor in 2004.

“My daughters, Autumn and Spring, are both excellent actors, singers and musicians, as are the boys,” said Cullen.

She said parents stepped forward to help her keep the performing arts academy going after Bastoni and Knolle Craighill stepped down. They helped with the sets and costumes, while Windsor High School student Kelsey Tarentino became the choreographer.

Caitlyn Shingledecker, a Windsor resident and theater student at San Francisco State University, answered a Craigslist ad for a director. Both the director and choregrapher jobs are paid.

Cathy Whiteman, who works with the Windsor High School Boosters, helped the academy gain nonprofit status, allowing it to seek and receive grants to help fund their performances at the local schools and keep tuition costs down for students.

The academy charges $375 per summer session, but last year because of a grant from Creative Sonoma, they were able to return $200 to each student. Several students also qualified for full scholarships. The Healdsburg and Santa Rosa Active 20-30 Clubs regularly donate to provide scholarships.

“I do my best to keep it affordable,” said Cullen, remembering how much of a struggle it was for her family 13 years ago.

This summer the academy will perform “Charlotte’s Web” for the second time, in an adaptation that will include a memorial tribute to the late Austin Custodia, who had served as a director.

The summer program will run from July 15 to Aug. 3. Sign-ups start in February. Space is limited to 20 students ages 12 to 19.

But at the moment, Cullen is focusing on the Windsor’s Got Talent Show, which will be held from 7-9:30 p.m. March 1 at the Windsor Community Center. Although it’s just weeks away, Cullen is still looking for volunteers, particularly experienced judges. She also needs help with the score table, tickets, sound and lighting, and stage management.

“Sharing your talent with the community allows others in the community to learn and shine, as well,” Cullen said. “It brings the community together.”

For more information, contact Cullen at 707-838-3341 or heather.wpaa@gmail.com.