SIDNEY -- The Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce's 2024 New Business of the Year created for itself a niche some might have questioned.

With COVID still impacting society, and introducing hands-on art in a place that doesn't automatically shout art center, Matt Elston and his wife Sarah stood on a quote from the movie "Field of Dreams." So they built it, and continue building it, believing "they" will come.

"I grew up in the Midwest and for some reason that movie resonates with me; the farming fields and just building something and I think when it comes to the Chamber award it kind of caught me off guard again. When we made this business, it was during the pandemic when we started on this building and, you know, ceramics and a small town. during a pandemic. You know, is that going to work? I had a lot of people question what I was doing. I kind of fall back to that movie sometimes and I just feel like if you can build things, regardless of what they are, people will come. And so when you get an award from the Chamber for doing something ... it's just a big deal," Elston said.

He said the award is affirming, but he doesn't feel he needs a community pat on the back, but at the same time it helps justify the efforts.

"I still don't know if they wanted ceramics right off the bat, but I think once it was created, kind of like building that baseball field, in a way, I think it's, as more people get engaged in it and see how it can be fun. I don't know that it's so much the ceramic aspect of this business, but more of the experience," he said. 

The Elstons took an historic building and transformed it to create a space where creativity of any age or skill is welcome. The store shows its history with the crafted metal ceiling tiles and vaulted ceilings.