Occasionally, clients request that their statues be based on their personal dogs. Artist Jill Whitley painted Razor Dawg of Offroad Powersports using references of the owner’ s dog. She reportedly had such a difficult time getting a shot with its mouth closed that she designed the statue to show its tongue as well. Photo courtesy Jill Whitley
Others go in an entirely new direction, with their colors, clothing, and accessories more closely representing their owners and sponsors— the King Firm’ s Justice wears a striped suit, Gear trades the red and black for purple and gold to match the colors of Planet Fitness, and Boo Boo of
Tiftarea Pediatrics sports scrubs, a stethoscope, and the handprints of the owner’ s children.
Whitely’ s creative process doesn’ t often get so hands-on as it did with Boo Boo, but it’ s certainly in-depth.
Once she receives the statues, which begin as pure white fiberglass, she undertakes a process of“ groundwork,” as she calls it, which involves painting skin and spots on the statues like a bulldog would normally have. It might not be the prettiest sight, but she asserts it’ s a vital step to ensuring the Dawgs look more realistic.
After the feet, face, and neck are given this dash of realism— the main body is usually skipped over as it’ ll be covered by the bulldog’ s clothes— other details like the colors, clothing and accessories are added in, eventually resulting in the statues commonly seen around Tifton today. At seven years in, both Whitley and UGA have asserted that the“ Call the Dawgs to Tifton” initiative will be continuing for the foreseeable future, with Whitley reporting that at least two more bulldog statues are in progress.
The artist has asserted that she plans to stay on the project as well for as long as she can. Murals might be her main practice, but as long as Tifton wants them, she’ s happy to keep bringing Dawgs to the Friendly City.
JULY 2025 | TiftonScene 11