Hi, I’m Becka.

I am both an artist and a teacher.  My primary work is designing fabric using engineered and manipulated photographic designs and original paper artwork. I print these designs onto fabric and use these prints to make one-of-a-kind wearable art garments and accessories.  One of the traditions of fiber art that inspires me is the idea of making practical and every day things be beautiful as well as functional. Why else do you make a lace edge on a handkerchief or hand weave a kitchen towel when a scrap of old fabric would do the job?  Because that’s a tiny bit of art that makes you feel good. You can read more of my artist’s statement here.

As a teacher, rather than being a specialist in one area, my specialty is being able to teach a beginning class in just about everything related to fiber art – felting, dyes, weaving, knitting, sewing, embroidery, beadwork, quilting.  I love watching the light bulb come on for someone as they have that “ah-ha!” moment or the gasp of excitement as they unfold their first dye project.  I love to teach and you can find out all about my upcoming classes here as well as my online classes.

I spent 11 years as the director of education, working as an arts administrator and surrounded every day with art at Textile Center, a center for fiber arts.  In 2014, I decided to retire from that art admin life in order to spend more time making art, teaching and working as an advocate for fiber art and artists.  I received a Jerome Foundation grant in 2014/15 for emerging fiber artists and participated in the American Craft Council’s new Hip Pop emerging artists program. In 2016, I received a MN State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant to do a collaboration with local museums and a neighborhood partnership grant to create public art utility box wraps in a neighborhood that is dear to my heart. I have shops at Etsy, Spoonflower and RedBubble where I sell my designs. You can also find me at Two Fish Fibers, which is my ongoing collaboration with my friend Doreen of Goldfish Love Fibers.

In 2015, my first book was published, The Spoonflower Handbook. I worked with co-authors Stephen Fraser and Judi Ketteler to create the ultimate handbook to all things fabric design, Spoonflower-style.  I was the tech guru for the book, putting together all of the step-by-step instructions, screenshots and so on. It was a huge project and one I am really proud of. You can find me at Spoonflower under the username “beckarahn”. In 2016, I self-published a kids art book to accompany the public art project I did with a local neighborhood. You can find that book through Blurb or my Etsy shop.

In 2016, I was appointed to be on the international Etsy Sellers Advisory Board for 2016.  This group met with Etsy staff throughout the year to help advise Etsy about issues that are important to all kinds of Etsy sellers.  In my interview with Etsy, I talked a lot about how I consider my Etsy shop to be one important facet of my artistic business.  I don’t want to be a full-time “manufacturer” of goods, but rather to run a small niche shop that helps to support my other art making and teaching projects.  I was really excited to be a part of this Board and work with some other amazing Etsy sellers.

In 2019/2020, I was thrilled to be a member of the Bell Museum’s Resident Artist Research Project. In 2022, I received a MN State Arts Board Creative Support Grant and I will be illustrating a book about music and musicians in Minnesota.

I live in Minneapolis, although I haven’t always been a city girl.  I grew up in Rapid City, SD and will always think of the Black Hills as my home.  I have a computer geeky husband and a large yellow lab named Stanley and we like to go on long rambling photo walks in search of lattes, squirrels and milkbones. I was on the board of directors of the Hennepin History Museum in Minneapolis and the Weavers Guild of MN and served as the MN State Rep to the Surface Design Association in 2015-2017. I am really committed to making art in my community and have worked with The Museum of Russian Art, The Bakken Museum, Dakota County Libraries, Prospect Park Association and many other local organizations to bring art into the community.

To view my formal teaching and exhibitions resume, you can click here: BeckaRahnResume.

My favorite colors are turquoise, green and orange.  I am an avid reader, especially of sci-fi and historical fiction.  I love jazz music, live theater, and Japanese food.