Staff

Shakerag Staff

Shakerag has 15-25 staff members for each of its three sessions. As a staff member, you will get to work with a fabulous group of enthusiastic artists, be involved with faculty members in a unique way, and get the new year’s Shakerag t-shirt free!

Staff members do a little of everything - clean, recycle, lift and move equipment, help solve problems for registrants, assist faculty members, lead hikes and swims, work in the Shakerag store, etc. Staff members receive workshop tuition, housing, meals, and studio fees for each session along with a modest stipend after workshops. We welcome staff from all over the country, and we value what each individual staff member can contribute. 

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The Planning Staff

There is a core group of Shakerag planners who meet throughout the year to plan for the upcoming sessions and future years. Included in that group are the following:

Claire Reishman is the matriarch of the Shakerag Family and the SAS Family, not to mention her own. She is the Shake to our Rag. Potter, teacher, horseback rider, she is beloved by all humans and creatures especially her three thoroughbred horses, Tommy, Bandy, and Chet, and her sweet little pup Sam. Her husband, John Reishman, co-hosts the amazing teacher and staff dinner and is everyone's favorite Bartender in Sewanee. Also, you won't see a better set of legs west of the Blue Ridge Mountains!

Kinion Asmus is the Shakerag Accountant. Kinion teaches Humanities at SAS during the year and her Winterim course, "Knitting with Kinion," has gone viral amongst the SAS students. Her precision is evident not just in her numbers work for Shakerag, but also in her love of cooking, sewing, and anything French.

Robie Jackson is the Shakerag MDK Knitting Getaway Coordinator. She loves everything about Modern Daily Knitting and looks forward to their festive retreat each summer. Some of her interests include reading, gardening, sewing, knitting, and temporary tattoos. She is a registered yoga teacher and offers regular yoga classes during Shakerag Workshops.

Christi Teasley is a Shakerag Co-Founder and the Textile+Painting+Drawing Coordinator. Christi's brain is better than any computer or smart device. Ask her a question and you'll get a lot more than a sentence and a handshake. Christi also gives tours of the SAS and Sewanee campuses during Shakerag. Over the past decade, Christi has worn many hats for the workshops including Gallery Director, Development, and Publicity Coordinator. She is a beloved aunt – it's a well-known fact that you would be lucky to be reincarnated as one of her nieces. Not so well-known – she loves, loves airports.

Merissa Tobler is a Shakerag Co-Founder and the Shakerag Store Manager. Merissa is a gifted potter, innovative cook, and wannabe quilter. One of the founding members of Shakerag Workshops, she has played an essential role to the workshop community from the beginning. Merissa is such a dedicated maker that she even took her sewing machine with her to Taiwan when her husband Jim went there for his sabbatical. Her encouragement, dedication, and enthusiasm for the workshops never waver, and she has kept the ship on course from the beginning.

Margaret Woods is a landscape designer, draftswoman, weaver, wannabe painter, embroiderer, basket-maker, nature journalist, gallery director, mini bar re-filler, mother of three beautiful children (Lydia, Katherine, and Will), and two nova scotia duck tolling retrievers (Ro and Red). She floats through all of these roles with an incomprehensible buoyancy and ease. Lips upturned, Margaret has the day figured out. Generous, happy, helpful, and humble - Margaret is a fantastic addition to our staff and we are so grateful for her involvement in Shakerag.