Caitlin Van Niel is a Costume Designer with more than 20 years professional experience, as well as having performed in many area theatres on stage as well. Now as a mom to four creative kids, her focus has shifted to helping them learn to see beauty everywhere and to find new ways to create. The delight in their eyes every time she makes something new has propelled her work towards unique educational designs and items for the home that are both practical and beautiful, and inspired her to become the owner/operator of The Threaded Needle: a custom fiber arts studio. You may see her at area art shows. After graduating from Grove City College with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Theater, Caitlin worked for the Cleveland Play House as a Soft Goods Artisan during their performance season, and Cain Park as their Costume Shop Manager in the summers before finally putting her English degree to good use as the Administrative Director for The Academy for the Performing Arts. She was also their resident Costume Designer for many seasons. It was there that she discovered a love for teaching and saw first hand the transformative power the arts can have in a student’s life. Caitlin loves helping people find their passion and is grateful for the opportunity to do just that on the Customer Experience Team here at FAA. She lives in Mentor with her husband Dale, their four kids, a couple cats, and a lot of sewing machines.