Vincent Van Gogh once wrote that “great things are done by a series of small things being brought together.”
He may not have been referencing the city blocks that comprise the Seward Creative District, but the concept is similar.
Now, with a $100,000 Nebraska Arts Council grant to fund an artist-in-residence program, hire an executive director, and help create a strategic plan over the next two years, the district is bringing big things together.
The Seward Creative District was one of 13 districts receiving Nebraska Arts Council Fiscal Year 2025 grants to advance significant projects benefitting cultural tourism and economic development.
Jeanne Wiemer has now been named its first executive director. She is Seward Arts Council president, one of the founders of the Seward Creative District, co-founder of Red Path Gallery and Tasting Room with her husband Verle Wiemer, and Inner Maker Art Village artist and owner.
As the part-time executive director, she will continue much of the detail work she has already been doing.
But her focus has already expanded to include the launch of the artist-in-residence program July 1 when Lincoln artist Stacey Romick begins a residency that will include teaching two classes in the community and spending time at the Red Path Gallery and Cocktail Lounge.
Romick was the 2024 Lincoln Artists Guild People’s Choice Award winner based on voting at the Red Path Gallery, Wiemer said. She had a show at the gallery last fall.
Future artists-in-residence may have other art mediums, including books, poetry, sculpture or music, and other studio options may be offered in places like Chapters Books and Gifts and The Forge.
“I would love to have other partners,” Wiemer said.
The Creative District will provide studio space and stipends to a series of artists who may take the role for two to six months. Lodging would also be included if the artist is coming from a distance.
That flexibility, Wiemer said, means the district could host eight to 24 artists in the next two years.
“It just depends on how it all works,” she said.
Seward’s Creative District was recently admitted into the Nebraska Artists Community Alliance, a clearing house of sorts for residencies and other creative programs.
The benefits of the artist-in-residence approach include the variety of artists and media the community can experience, as well as the hope that some of these artists may view Seward as a long-term part of their creative efforts and the business side of art, or even home.
“Our vision for the Seward Arts Council has always been for economic growth through the arts,” Wiemer said.
While money is not everything, Wiemer said someone being able to make a living with the thing they are passionate about makes a difference.
Wiemer grew up in Seward County and recalls when her parents took her to an outdoor event presented by renowned Seward artist Reinhold Marxhausen in the area near the Hillcrest Evangelical Free Church which is now on Highway 15 south.
“I remember going as a family to see that,” she said. She eventually got one of his small “stardust” sound art pieces.
Wiemer appreciates Seward’s embrace of arts and cultural activities, and points to its inclusion as one of the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership’s strategic pillars.
Wiemer would like to see other businesses and organizations partner with the district, too.
“Our vision for the Seward Arts Council has always been for economic growth through the arts,” Wiemer said, noting its involvement with the popular 5th Street Summer Music Series, support for groups creating art sculpture and barn quilt maps and an annual garden tour.
Wiemer will be based out of her home, where she also has a studio for her painting and metal work pieces.
But she is constantly out in the community to meet with people and talk about the creative district and the arts council.
“It seems like I am always working behind the scenes,” Wiemer said.
As Wiemer takes the executive director role for the center, she will be drawing on Creative District Advisory Committee members Amber and Dave Fiala of The Red Path Gallery, Pat Coldiron at The Liberty House Bed and Breakfast, Kelley Limback at Chapters, Michael Scheer of the CUNE Center for Liturgical Arts and representatives from the city of Seward and SCCDP.
The Nebraska Legislature adopted the concept of creative districts in 2020 to help Nebraska communities tell their stories, elevate the arts and utilize the arts as an economic driver through purposeful creative spaces like art galleries, theatres and music venues.
Seward applied to the Nebraska Arts Council for district designation in 2021-22 and received its first grant in 2023 to support the 5th Street Summer Music Series.
The Seward Wellness Center was added to the district in 2024 as exercise and recreational activities were added to qualifying groups, enabling the Seward district to qualify for a $562,000 Nebraska Civic and Community Center Financing Fund grant toward its construction.
Wiemer said the Nebraska Arts Council is including the “art of wellness,” noting studies that show people who are exposed to or engaged in art are healthier.
