American Craft Forums
American Craft Forums are a dynamic series of programs that brings together the past, present, and future of craft through artist spotlights, deep dives into creative practices, archival explorations, and timely conversations that connect contemporary issues with the handmade world.
Etsy Twenty Years On
This forum will take place on Thursday, May 14, 2026
Virtual: Zoom Webinar
The rise of Etsy, founded in 2005, is one of the most consequential developments in the modern handcraft ecosystem. With millions of sellers and buyers worldwide, this platform and publicly traded corporation has transformed the way many makers earn a living and the public finds craft. But as Etsy has grown, it has also become a flashpoint for debate. In this forum, moderator Grace Dobush and four panelists explore Etsy’s evolving impact on the craft ecosystem and ask what the next 20 years of digital craft commerce might look like.
Moderator: Grace Dobush
Speakers: Becka Rahn, Maureen Sitterson, and Samantha Close.
Etsy Twenty Years On is co-produced by the American Craft Council and the Craft Industry Alliance.
This forum is free; registration required. Registration opens Monday, April 20.
Participants
Grace Dobush
Grace Dobush is a freelance journalist and moderator living in Berlin, Germany. She writes the Craft Industry Alliance’s monthly corporate newsletter, Craft Industry Insider, which focuses on news important for companies in the creative industries. She’s written about business for publications including Wired, Handelsblatt and Fortune, and also moderates events in Berlin and worldwide.
Becka Rahn
Becka Rahn is a full-time teaching artist who works in a micro-studio in Minneapolis, MN. She creates primarily in fabric and paper, specializing in mixed media illustrations using recycled papers and hand embroidery. Becka is the co-author of The Spoonflower Handbook, a guide to designing your own fabrics and holds a book arts certificate from the MN Center for Book Arts. She’s been an active Etsy seller since 2005. She is passionate about helping artists conquer technology barriers to make their work more accessible. Her super powers are breaking complex ideas into simple steps, inspiring creative thinking, and incorporating puns into everything she makes.
Maureen Sitterson
Maureen leads Seller Marketing at Etsy, where she’s spent the past five years championing small businesses and dreaming up new ways to support sellers and help them grow thriving businesses. She brings a strong focus on listening to sellers and building tools and programs that meet them where they are. Based in Atlanta with her husband and three kids, Maureen often finds inspiration on a run or spending time with friends and family.
Samantha Close
Samantha Close earned her PhD in Communication at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include digital media and popular culture, with a particular focus on fandom. Her research on crafting spans a documentary, “I Am Handmade: Crafting in the Age of Computers,” hosted online by Vice Media’s Motherboard channel as well as articles in the International Journal of Communication, Social Media + Society, Gateways International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, Anthropology Now, and the HICSS Proceedings in 2016. She is a knitter and quilter in her spare time.
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Etsy Twenty Years On is co-produced by the American Craft Council and the Craft Industry Alliance.
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