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The mission of Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts is to provide educational experiences in visual, performing, and literary arts for adults and children; cultivate the creativity that thrives in our rural community; and rehabilitate and preserve our historic buildings and rustic campus.
Christina Kubasta
Executive Director
ckubasta@shakeragalley.org
Jonna Wensel
Program Manager
jwensel@shakeragalley.org
Alyssa Zasada
Administrative Manager
azasada@shakeragalley.org
Mack Champion
Youth Program Manager
mchampion@shakeragalley.org
Mike Kutzke
Buildings & Grounds Manager
mkutzke@shakeragalley.org
Megan Kulick
Marketing Assistant
mkulick@shakeragalley.org
Steven Reineke
Gardens & Grounds Technician
Mike Christensen
President
David Southward
Vice President
Deb Donaghue
Treasurer
Julie Whelan Capell
Secretary
Kevin Clougherty
Betty Hogan
Molly Walz Huie
Steve Leger
Julia Brier Marr
Sandy Scott
Cheryl Smeja
Sharon Stauffer
Judy Sutcliffe, 2004-2021
Work With Us
There are no open positions at this time.
Intern With Us
There are no internship opportunities at this time.
Volunteer With Us
There is no shortage of ways to get involved at Shake Rag Alley. We always need help maintaining our 2.5 acres of gardens, as well as during annual events, Please call our office at (608) 987-3292 or send us an email if you’d like to help. Stay on top of emerging opportunities by asking to be added to our Volunteer News email list. Calls for volunteers will be sent directly to your inbox with handy buttons for online sign-up and time slot selection.
Magic. Joy. Heaven on earth. These words and others like them have been used to describe the experience of learning, staying, and celebrating at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, Mineral Point’s nationally known 501(c)3 nonprofit school of arts and crafts.
WORKSHOPS at Shake Rag Alley are informative, fun, and led by working artists and craftspersons from across the country and across the street. From March to November, we offer scores of workshops, ranging from half-day project-oriented workshops to week-long immersive workshops for all skill levels. RETREATS of several days allow students to experience several workshops in a category, whether it’s rustic arts and nature crafts, jewelry, creative writing, or mixed media. During our SUMMER YOUTH PROGRAM, K-12 artists complete projects across a wide-array of categories. Beloved Youth Program features include craft camp culminating in participation in the Mineral Point Fourth of July Parade, the Free Arts Camp (supported by community partners), and and new offerings to explore with teacher-artists in a variety of media.
LODGING is available on-campus in the historic Coach House and at The Sardeson, two blocks away on Commerce Street, in the third addition to the 1868 Globe Hotel. Workshop participants are eligible for discounts on Shake Rag Alley lodging.
SITE RENTAL makes it possible for you to utilize the Shake Rag Alley campus and buildings for meetings, private events, special occasions and ceremonies, or work with staff to organize a private arts retreat led by one of our instructors. Site rentals can be tailored to suit your group’s size and interests, and convenient on-site lodging makes Shake Rag Alley the perfect venue for creative brainstorming retreats or family/friend get-aways. Be sure to check out our site rental gallery.
EVENTS at Shake Rag Alley are a great way to connect with others from the community and explore our beautiful campus and unique buildings throughout the year. Annual events include family-friendly activities like the Tour of Fairy Homes and Santa Day, where visitors of all ages may participate in themed crafting opportunities, and our annual free Trick ‘r Treat event following the Mineral Point Halloween Parade. Monthly Makers & Shakers Art Parties provide opportunities for creative camaraderie March-November. Watch our Events page for our eclectic garage sales, Showcase Nights, Fiber Faire, and other ways to engage with and support Shake Rag Alley throughout the year. LITERARY EVENTS include our Winter Writers Reading Series, welcoming award-winning Wisconsin authors to week-long residencies and Wednesday evening readings from January through March, the monthly Driftless Poets workshops, annual Writing Retreat, and Alley Stage Reading Series.
Back in the early 1800s, when Mineral Point was a rough-and-tumble lead mining town, a cluster of cabins in the little valley surrounding Federal Spring was known as Shake Rag Under the Hill. When Madison florist Al Felly bought up all the little homesteads around the spring circa 1970 and planted the area into a lovely garden with artisans making their crafts in the buildings, he called it Shake Rag Alley. There’s a local legend that camp cooks and womenfolk used to shake a rag outside their doors to indicate to the men mining the nearby hills that chow was ready. In several parts of the United States, “Shake Rag” was the name of a poor residential area. Elvis Presley was born near a “Shake Rag” area (and kept on shakin’!).
Fast forward to October 14, 2004, when local artists and community members led by founding board members Jim Kackley, Sandra Scott, and Judy Sutcliffe purchased the property and launched a nonprofit arts education center. The spring is still bubbling, and today Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts occupies nine buildings in the 2.5-acre oasis of gardens, trees, and rambling paths.
Students come from all over the country to join in the creative fun that takes place in our historic buildings, under trees, and under tents. From modest beginnings, with only an after-school youth program and a handful of weekend workshops, Shake Rag Alley has grown into a national art center with the support of our students and instructors, donors near and far, and a small army of volunteers drawn from the Mineral Point community.
Visitors are welcome dawn to dusk to stroll the magical grounds, which feature 20 individual garden beds including a monarch way station, a meandering spring-fed stream, carpets of blue naturalized forget-me-nots, day lilies, wild ginger, daisies and hostas in abundance, large stands of five-foot-tall Ostrich ferns, sedum cascading over rock walls … in sum, a cornucopia of wildly overgrown vegetation that perfectly complements the rustic character of the historic and reproduction buildings, pathways and rock walls.
Even beyond the natural beauty, there’s just something incredibly special about this place. A spirit. A feel almost impossible to capture in words or pictures. You have to experience it for yourself.
Shake Rag Under the Hill to Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
18 Shake Rag St.
Mineral Point, WI 53565
(608) 987-3292