Nestled near the corner of 4th and Main and comfortably in Downtown Tifton , what is now the Syd Blackmarr Center for the Arts has had a long and storied history dating all the way back to 1900 . Now , it stands as a hub for the celebration and appreciation of creativity and expression .
“ They didn ’ t know exactly what it was going to be ,” said Joy Yost , executive director of the arts center . “ But they ’ d always had the vision it was going to be an arts and culture center .”
However , as the museum continued to grow and expand what it offered the community , organizers realized it had begun to transcend being a mere museum .
In addition to holding various art exhibits , the museum offered classes and workshops to the community on a regular basis , much more than it held exhibits . Thus , the board decided it was time to move away from the title of museum and move toward a broader range of art celebration .
“ We realized the original vision was for this to be some type of arts and cultural center ; they just put museum in the name because they thought it might become a museum and have a permanent exhibit ,” Yost said . “ That never really came to fruition ; we do hold exhibits in the museum multiple times a year but it ’ s expanded into more than that . Now we offer classes , we do workshops , we go out into the community and offer classes at other locations as well . We realized we ’ re really becoming more than just our building .”
With this rebranding from art museum to art center came a renaming as well , and the executives behind the new center thought it only fitting to christen the new facility after the person who worked so passionately to help it thrive .
“ Syd Blackmarr ’ s name has been synonymous with the arts in Tifton since 1976 ,” Yost said . “ Before this building was even thought of as an arts center , she was promoting the arts in Tifton and in South Georgia as a whole .”
Indeed , Blackmarr has had a hand in getting several art programs in the southern regions of the state off the ground and keeping them in the air .
JULY 2022 | TiftonScene 21