FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Sarah R Glaser is a comic artist, illustrator, and printmaker based in Norfolk, Virginia. She has served as Program Manager for the Arts at Old Dominion University since 2019 and graduated from ODU with a M.A. in the Humanities in 2022. Her graduate studies focused on the intersection of philosophy of technology and visual narrative.

As a printmaker, she works with risography and silkscreen to create zines, mini-comics, and art prints. She is the illustrator of the Bosley the Beach Cat series as well as another children's picture book based on Norfolk’s beloved Scotch and Soda, the Lions.

Sarah founded Studio Shift in May of 2023.

OUTREACH & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Christine M Rucker is an artist and social worker based in Virginia Beach, VA. She graduated from Pratt Institute in painting and art history, and Virginia Commonwealth University in clinical social work. As an artist, she works as a bookmaker, designer, and mixed media printmaker. She teaches Visual Journaling for Stress classes at The Muse Writing Center and Norfolk Community Services Board.

As a social worker, she practices as a Licensed Master's in Social Work at the Norfolk Community Services Board and Deep Connections Counseling in Virginia. She is also a clinician at Feeling Good Psychotherapy in New York, and is certified as a Level 1 TEAM-CBT practicioner, which is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy. She practices Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and BMDR, an integration of EMDR and Expressive Art Therapy.

She has shown her mixed media printmaking pieces at galleries in New York City, Richmond, and the Hampton Roads area. Her first solo exhibition was in 2020 at the Offsite Gallery in Norfolk, VA. She is working on writing a workbook on Visual Journaling for Stress. 

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

John Runner is an Artist and Arts Educator based in Newport News VA. He is the Co-Owner of Little Light Film Lab in Norfolk VA and was the founder of PRINT a community print studio in Newport News VA. He has shown his own work extensively both nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions, curating and organizing several exhibitions as well. He has taught at numerous institutions including Hampton University and Tidewater Community College.  Currently he serves on the Board of Studio Shift a nonprofit promoting printmaking in Coastal Virginia where he chairs the Exhibition Committee. 

SECRETARY

Ayla Elliott is an artist and graphic designer based in Chesapeake, Virginia. She graduated from Old Dominion University in 2010 and Tidewater Community College in 2013, and has taught classes in Interactive Design at TCC. Her professional experience as a designer includes print and digital marketing, branding, packaging, surface pattern design, UX, and animation. As an artist, she is a prolific doodler, and enjoys exploring different media and materials, especially drawing, comics, painting, and stained glass.

As part of Studio Shift, she hopes to help people connect and grow through creative practice.

EVENT LEAD | AT-LARGE

Nate Tunstall is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Norfolk whose practice spans zines, costume design, printmaking, poetry, and digital art. He currently serves as Unit Director for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia’s Truitt Site, where he fosters creativity and community engagement among young people. His artistic work extends into the local arts scene, including volunteering with the Little Theater of Virginia Beach and being selected as one of the Poets for Elizabeth River Trail’s Poetry on the Trail 2025–2026 project. He is also the author of Doom Scroll Zine, a self-published zine full of poetry, collage and essays about the queer experience.

STUDIO MANAGER

Aaron Wallis was born in Tacoma, WA near the muddy banks of the Puyallup River. And the water has carried him through California and Wyoming. He is perhaps a Virginian if Aaron can be said to be from anywhere. He holds a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University. Aaron helped found the Teton Artlab in Jackson Hole and worked for Quality Letterpress in San Diego. He is currently a press operator at Prince Ink in Norfolk. Aaron has worked in all the major printmaking disciplines including, etching, lithography, silkscreen, letterpress and woodblock.

Aaron is a Taurus who enjoys long walks on moonlight beaches. His activities include yoga, swimming, meditation and battling existential malaise. Aaron is an orchid whisperer and cultivates succulents including San Pedro cacti. He has cooked at two Michelin 3 diamond restaurants and will always carry the post traumatic stress disorder associated with being a line cook, though he is still able to enjoy Mescal and Camembert and makes demi-glace from scratch. Aaron wrote for the Alt Weekly Planet Jackson Hole and considers himself a discount art critic. He makes an attempt to practice Buddhism.