Tifton Museum of Arts and Heritage invites artists to submit applications to participate in Paws On Love, a unique art show featuring original work depicting dogs.

Call for artists application / registration

Deadline: 17 May 2017

Held in the beautiful Tifton Museum of Arts and Heritage, Paws on Love will exhibit the highest quality work possible. It intends to celebrate human’s best friend in multiple creative ways and forms.

Each artist may submit up to four pieces of original work depicting dogs. This is a fine art and folk art show. Art may be 2-dimensional (oils, acrylics, pastel, charcoal, pencil, or etching) or 3-dimensional (bronze, clay, wood, wire, fiber, or paper). Work must be the original work of the submitting artist. 2-dimensional works must be no smaller than 16″x20″ not including any framing and must wired and ready to hang. No saw tooth hangars accepted

A digital file (JPEG) of each piece must be submitted to be juried for the show. Each artist must include a $5.00 non-refundable jurying fee and the entry form. Upon acceptance, a $35 entry fee will be required for up to two pieces and $10 for each additional piece (maximum total of four pieces.)

Emphasis will be placed on creativity, originality, and quality of work.

Paws On Love artist benefits

Art may be offered for sale if allowed by the artist. The museum will receive 30% commission for each sale. Exhibitors should remember this when pricing art.

Paws on Love prizes will be given at the discretion of the judge as follows:

• Best of Show – $1000
• First Place 2-Dimensional – $250
• First Place 3-Dimensional – $250

About the Tifton Museum of Arts and Heritage

The Tifton Museum of Arts and Heritage (TMAH) is housed in a 110-years-old architectural treasure that was originally the First Methodist Church. The building was the first brick church built in the community. It brought a refined elegance at the turn of the century to the growing rural town. Hundreds of Tiftonites, their children, and grandchildren, were christened, baptized, married, and memorialized in the beautiful Victorian Gothic structure. It was built by “Captain” Henry Harding Tift, a Connecticut Yankee who founded the town.

Legend has it that the building was constructed with brick instead of lumber to protect it from lumbermen, turpentiners, customers, and good friends of local frame saloon owners who burned down wooden churches while they were still under construction.

The building has had close ties to the town’s cultural life from its earliest years. Regular programs were presented in the sanctuary by the Tifton Music Club and visiting musicians. Long-time members tell of soirees held for famed opera star singer Lilly Ponds and performances by violinist Romanoff as well as the town’s own local “concert in the park” band and the church choir.

Constructed in 1900 and once hailed as “the finest church in the South,” the 3500 square-foot building’s rather simple exterior opens to reveal an expansive octagonal-shaped interior, rich with color and ornamentation. The fine-grained heart pine lumber of the interior walls and ceiling were handcrafted by ship carpenters or joiners retained by Captain Tift.

The vaulted ceiling is supported by massive arched buttresses while intricate carved medallions and bull’s-eye plinth blocks on the door and window moldings serve as a counterpoint to the ceiling’s magnificent height and strength. The original bell tower, topped with an elegant brass final, is still intact.

The true jewels of the building are the twenty-four stained and fired glass windows which suffuse the building with light and color. Three triplet ecclesiastical windows each feature unusual designs, glass, and color. All the exterior and interior doors are graced with stained glass transoms. Many of the rondels and glass décor in the windows were available only in Italy at the time the building was constructed.

In 1952, the original owners vacated the building to accommodate a growing congregation. The facility was occupied by various denominations until 1985. The Tift County Development Authority purchased it to protect it was vandals and potential demolition.

With the exception of occasional occupancy by various small church groups, the building was left empty throughout four decades and its beauty slowly gave way to age, termites, and the elements.

In 1990, the Tifton Rotary Club, a non-profit organization, was formed to restore the building and raise funds to transform it into a community cultural center. A partnership was formed with ABAC’s Arts Experiment Station (now the Arts Connection) The Arts Experiment Station wrote and received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for $125,000. The grant served as the catalyst for the County’s commitment of $250,000 in SPLOST funds to assist with the project. Ultimately, the City, County, and private donors raised over $500,000 to complete the renovation.

Local architect Roy Rankin, a great grandson of Captain Tift, was the volunteer project manager. With extensive help from unpaid City and community workers, as well as a contracted crew, the building was restored and returned to the citizens as the Tifton Museum of Arts and Heritage, a cherished architectural jewel of the City.

For more information, contact admin@tiftonmuseum.org.