Staff
Shakerag Summer Staff
The year-round Shakerag Planning Team, listed below, welcomes summer staff hired each year to work before, during, and after our June workshops. While the Shakerag Planning Team 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 is essential to creating the extraordinary creative experience each year. An amazing staff benefit is the ability to enroll 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. Other perks include networking opportunities and friendships formed amongst the cohort of staff and often participants. The vast majority of our staff look forward to returning in subsequent years.
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.
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.
Staff applications for Summer 2026 will be accepted from January 1, 2026 - March 1, 2026.
APPLY AS RETURNING STAFF
Shakerag Planning Team
Kinion Asmus is on the Shakerag planning team, organizes housing, and assists with bookkeeping, 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 work for Shakerag, but also in her love of cooking, sewing, and anything French.
CONTACT KINION
Christi Teasley is a Shakerag co-founder, member of the planning team and current 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.
Stephanie Layne joined the Shakerag planning team in 2024 as Primary Accounting & Record Keeper. She retired from St. Andrew's-Sewanee School working in the Business Office where she served as the Asst. to the Chief Financial Officer for over 35 years. Stephanie lives in the Tracy City TN area where she enjoys traveling and spending time with her family and friends. She invites everyone to stop by the Shakerag Store in June to meet her and introduce yourself.
Claire Reishman was the founding Director of Shakerag Workshops. She continues as an active member of the planning team and as the coordinator of the Shakerag/MDK Knitting Getaway. Claire also provides leadership for the newly created 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, member of the planning team and the Shakerag store manager. Merissa provides leadership in ordering supplies for the studios, gathering goodies for the Shakerag Store, and troubleshooting surprise needs in session. 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 a member of Shakerag planning team, is Shakerag’s Scholarship Coordinator, and the 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
Aleta Jones is a long time Shakerag summer staff member and has recently joined year round staff as the Summer Staff Coordinator. Aleta is a clay artist and found object jewelry maker living in Mississippi. She also enjoys hand sewing with felt, carpentry, home projects and learning new materials and techniques.
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