Two Seward business owners joined forces with artists in the community to create a 500-piece puzzle featuring buildings in the town. The puzzles are on sale for $19.99.
Carla Ketner from Chapters Books & Gifts and Pat Coldiron from Liberty House B&B came up with the idea about a year ago when they noticed that many people were buying puzzles during the pandemic. They thought it would be a fun way to celebrate Seward and highlight local artists.
“We thought it’d be fun to have a Seward puzzle when everybody was so excited about puzzles,” Ketner said. “It’d be a way to bring the community together and get everybody thinking about all the great things in their hometown.”
She said figuring out a design and finding artists took longer than expected, but she and Coldiron eventually found four different upcoming artists in Seward who all do watercolors. They each worked on illustrating individual buildings for the puzzle, and a designer put it all together. Mid-2021, the design was complete.
“It just blossomed,” Coldiron said. “We were so happy to be able to put together a representation of Seward for the folks of Seward to enjoy.”
Normally, it would have taken 90 to 120 days for the puzzle company to get the product manufactured and shipped, but, because of worker shortages and shipping delays, it took more than 180 days for Ketner to receive the puzzles.
The puzzles, which are set to go on sale in late January, are limited edition. Only 576 were made.
“We’re hoping people will buy them as a mental memento of Seward,” Ketner said.
The first 100 people who buy it will also receive a free puzzle that depicts a scene of the Seward County Courthouse in 1890, courtesy of the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership.
They can be pre-ordered on the Chapters website, and many local businesses, including some that are featured on the puzzle, will be selling it in their stores– including Coldiron.
“I just love having local products because I have guests from all over the world. You wouldn’t believe it in a little tiny B&B in our little town out here on the prairie. So, I love being able to promote it,” Coldiron said.
Carolyn Hughes, a retired teacher in Seward, and Emma Brand, a teacher at St. John’s, both helped work on the puzzle as artists.
Hughes said she has enjoyed art ever since she was a child.
“I’m not a trained artist, but I’ve always enjoyed doing it,” she said. “When I was teaching, I loved doing art with my class. Now, I enjoy doing it with my two grandchildren.”
Brand earned a graphic design minor with an interest in children’s books and children’s literature when she graduated from Concordia in 2020.
“I’ve always been doodling and drawing and writing. It’s always been an important part of how I keep track of my days and how I think about things,” she said.
Brand said that the way the artists and designers came together to create something for the community reminded her of the way pieces of a puzzle come together to create a complete image.
“Whenever I live somewhere, I make the place important to me in specific ways. Getting to know the community through the different buildings that I loved was a neat way of doing that,” she said.
