Originally hailing from a ranch in western Colorado, Caisa began her life in the theatre at a young age when she went to rehearsals with her mother, who acted and directed at a community theatre. She got her first taste of design when a friend asked her to design the scenery for Forever Plaid, followed soon by scenery for a traveling outdoor adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. When Caisa decided to take classes at her undergraduate institution, Mesa State College, she discovered the joys of lighting design. While at Mesa, she was mentored by David M. Cox in both scenic and lighting design.

 

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics (her original career intent when entering college), she got a job working in the scene shop of a local dinner theatre, which eventually led to her becoming their lighting designer. After that, almost two years working as an electrician at SeaWorld convinced her to attend graduate school for lighting design. She graduated in 2015 with her Master of Fine Arts in Theatre, Lighting from Illinois State University. While at Illinois State, she discovered an additional new passion for sound design and has been designing sound for Arkansas State University shows, as well as professionally for St. Michael's Playhouse in Burlington, VT since 2019.

 

For the eight years, she was the lighting designer for the Midwest Institute of Opera, designing Amahl and the Night Visitors, La Cenerentola, Carmen, and Le Nozze de Figaro, among others.

Previously, she was the Assistant Technical Director of Lighting and Sound at the University of South Carolina. Currently, she is the Associate Professor for Lighting and Sound at Arkansas State University. In her free time, she enjoys martial arts, rock climbing, and reading mystery novels.