Arts Council brings 'Nutcrackers in Nappanee' back for second year

NAPPANNEE, Ind. -- The town known for its apples is starting a new winter trend, "Nutcrackers in Nappanee," which is in its second year.

Created by the Nappanee Arts Council, the group wanted to create a community art installation that adds to the more than 200 sculptures already around the city.

This is how the Nappanee Arts Council decided on nutcrackers.

"What we wanted to do is we wanted to come up with a holiday event where people could come from all over just to kind of walk around and see different things," said council president Jeff Stilson. "And when we were thinking about a theme, we thought, well, we want to do it in an artistic way and have artists have the opportunity to create their own pieces. And when we were thinking of shapes, we thought, well, there's only so many things you can do with a snowman shape or a Santa Claus, but a nutcracker kind of gives you an unlimited canvas, a blank canvas, where you can do anything, you possibly want."

The 60-pound, double-sided nutcrackers are crafted by an Amish metalworker, hand painted by local artists, and finished with a weather resistant paint. Last year there were 57, this year there's 64.  Which makes 128 themed sides. 

"A company or an individual could come to us and say they would like to sponsor a nutcracker," Stilson said. "They could either hire their own artists or come to the Nappanee Arts Council, and we would assign an artist to them depending on what theme they wanted or the style they wanted, and then yeah, we want to continually add. This is going to be an annual event downtown, and we want to continually add each year."

The nutcrackers look like the business they represent, like Veni's Candy Shop, which takes inspiration from Willy Wonka. New Veni's co-owner, Luis Robledo, bought the store with his wife in April, and loves that their passed down nutcrackers allow them to be part of the community.

"I hope that the Nutcrackers of Nappanee continues to grow, as we've seen that the Nutcrackers really bring in more visitors and people really like to see all the Nutcrackers and their fun artworks. Local businesses see more foot traffic because of the Nutcrackers."

The community has embraced the nutcrackers with themed drinks or hidden nutcrackers at businesses that give you discounts if you find them. Nutcrackers in Nappanee is slowly becoming a community staple.  

"It adds vibrancy to our downtown during those cold winter months. You just see people out and about, whereas they would just be hibernating in their houses, it gives something for them to do downtown, and we see a lot of people from outside of our area coming just for the Nutcrackers."

If you'd like to go see the nutcrackers, all you have to do is take a walk around downtown Nappanee. The experience is totally free and a great way to get outside while it's chilly.

The later you go, the more stores you will see decorated with nutcracker gear. They go away Dec. 31, so don't miss your chance to check out the newest Nappanee tradition.