BY LUCIE KRISMAN
A new coloring book of historical buildings and sites around Eudora will soon be available at the Eudora Community Museum.
Created by volunteer artists, the project is organized by the Eudora Artist Coalition. The free black-and-white book will also include blurbs about the history of local buildings.
The project started in early 2018, said Debbie Carden of the Eudora Artist Coalition.
"I'd had the idea for years," Carden said. "As a child, coloring for me was always relaxing, and I really always wanted to make my own coloring books."
The finished book will be 20 to 30 pages. Four members of the Eudora Artist Coalition and seven Eudora high school students have contributed to the coloring book so far.
Carden said the book's cover will most likely be the Eudora Doodle, a graphic image of Eudora created by local professional graphic artist Laura Reaka.
"It takes a lot to impress me as an artist," Carden said. "When I saw it, I just fell in love with it."
Carden said she also wants to include a tour map in the coloring book that people can either walk or drive to see Eudora’s historical sites, even ones that are not featured in the book.
"I just feel like Eudora has some amazing history, and I could not sleep at night if someone didn't put it down in a coloring book," Carden said.
Stephanie Jones, secretary of the Eudora Area Historical Society, said this coloring book will be a way for all members of the Eudora community to enjoy local history.
"It's something for all ages," Jones said. "Anyone from our older community can reminisce on places they went or their families went to, but on the other side, it's a great discussion for families."
Ben Terwilliger, executive director at the Eudora Community Museum, said the coloring book will be a good visual component for students who visit the museum to have a closer look at the buildings they typically see on tours of downtown Eudora.
"We're real passionate about our little downtown here," Terwilliger said. "We want to make sure that the buildings are cared for and that people understand the history of them, so I think this coloring book will be a good chance to educate people more."
In addition to this project, Terwilliger hopes the Eudora Community Museum will see a new exhibit in its future.
"I want to revamp our entire museum and create what I call a core exhibit, which tells the whole history of Eudora," Terwilliger said. "When you walk in, you kind of walk through time and you start from the beginning and finish at the end."
Work on this exhibit is already in progress.
"We've come up with stories that we want to tell in the exhibit, and we've done surveys to see what people want to see in the exhibit,” Terwilliger said.
The next steps toward completing it are finding a design concept for the exhibit and paying for its completion. Terwilliger said current and future fundraisers will go toward this, along with refurbishment of the historic Southwest City Cemetery.
The Eudora Historical Society made strides in contributing to this with its November fundraising event co-hosted by BlueJacket Crossing Vineyard & Winery and the Southwest City Cemetery in Eudora. Proceeds from this fundraiser reached about $5,400.
Jones said it was exciting to see the results of the fundraiser, and she recommends that community members visit the museum as it changes.
"If people haven't been to the museum lately, it's important to go by and see it," Jones said. "It's a sight to see."
Reach reporter Lucie Krisman at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
I think that is super cool idea! I can't wait to see it!