Staff
Shakerag Summer Staff
Shakerag summer staff is comprised of two groups. The Shakerag Planning Team, listed below, and the group of individuals hired each year to work the summer workshops. While the Shakerag Planning Team is a core group that meets throughout the year to plan for the upcoming sessions and future years, they join the summer staff for the on-the-ground workings when our programs are in session.
Shakerag staff members work outdoors at times (registration, transition days, hospitality hour, etc.) during a Tennessee summer. They walk across the campus throughout the day and evening, lift and carry items as needed, and are ready to help out in myriad ways. Sometimes tasks are mundane (sorting linens), sometimes creative (designing bulletin boards), sometimes solo (arranging flowers), and sometimes a team endeavor (preparing dorm rooms for participants).
Our staff works hard to make sure that all participants and faculty members have what they need for a successful Shakerag experience. An amazing staff benefit is the ability to participate in world class workshops alongside our participants and to be in community with a wide range of artists. Additional staff benefits include room, board, covered class fees, and a modest stipend for each week worked. The vast majority of our staff look forward to returning in subsequent years.
If you or someone you know is interested in applying to be on staff, the staff applications are live on January 1 and close on March 1. Note that there are two applications, one for new-to-Shakerag folks and one for returning staff. Please click the application button that correlates to you.
Contact our staff coordinator with your questions.
The application window for our 2025 Summer Staff has closed.
Shakerag Planning Team
Kinion Asmus is the Shakerag Bookkeeper, keeping track of year round accounting and nuts and bolts of registration. Kinion teaches Humanities, Art History, and Textile Arts at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School during the year. Her precision is evident not just in her numbers work for Shakerag, but also in her love of cooking, sewing, and anything French.
CONTACT KINION
Robie Jackson is the Shakerag Staff Coordinator. She focuses on cultivating a dedicated group of working artists who reflect the world around us. Our staff consists of young art students and wise, seasoned art professionals. Race, culture, gender identity, and sexual identity are acknowledged and supported aspects of the Shakerag Workshops Staff. She is a registered yoga teacher and enjoys offering yoga classes during Shakerag. Her background includes theatre, dance, and creative writing. Robie loves to sew.
CONTACT ROBIE
Christi Teasley is a Shakerag Co-Founder and has recently become its director. An artist and educator, Christi’s studio work is primarily textile based and includes stitching, printing, dyeing, and recently rug hooking. She lives in Monteagle and enjoys introducing Shakerag friends to the natural and cultural wonders of the South Cumberland Plateau.
CONTACT CHRISTI
Claire Reishman is a Shakerag co-founder and was the first director of Shakerag Workshops. She is now the coordinator of the Shakerag/MDK Knitting Getaway, and she also provides leadership for Shakerag Off Season. In her spare time she makes pots, rides her three horses (Will, Bandy, and Jack), and walks her sweet dog Sammy.
CONTACT CLAIRE
Merissa Tobler is a Shakerag co-founder and the Shakerag store manager. She is a potter, but has become increasingly interested in quilting in the last few years. When not thinking about clay, fabric and Shakerag, she delights in walking and talking with friends and playing with grandchildren.
CONTACT MERISSA
Margaret Woods is Shakerag’s Scholarship Coordinator and Director of Gallery and Exhibitions. She is a landscape designer, draftswoman, weaver, wannabe painter, embroiderer, basket-maker, nature journalist, mother of three beautiful children (Lydia, Katherine, and Will), and two nova scotia duck tolling retrievers (Ro and Red).
CONTACT MARGARET
Shakerag Workshops of St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School does not discriminate on the basis of race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, or gender.
Photo Credit: Rashod Taylor & CC Boyle