Hunting season is mere weeks away and so, too, is Thomasville’s favorite fall highlight. Ringing in its 22nd year of world-renowned talent, Southern fare and fabulous fetes, the Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival is the South’s premiercelebration of the sporting life.

Through November 19, this year’s schedule is packed with offerings for guests of all ages, with over a dozen parties, workshops, dining events and outdoor festivities leading up to the Fine Art Show & Sale presented in partnership with Synovus.

PWAF organizers bring in wildlife artists from across the country and the globe. This year, the works of 65 painters, sculptors, carvers, jewelers, photographers and artisans will fill the walls and halls of 600 East Washington St. in Thomasville. The art show is open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 18 and 19, and all festival proceeds benefit Thomasville Center for the Arts.

Underwriters get a first look at the black-tie Fine Art Show Preview Party presented in partnership with Synovus. For the first time, a second wave event called Art after Dark welcomes the public to join underwriters later in the evening to purchase art and enjoy live music by The Blues Factor Band, late-night bites with Bueller-Frye and an open bar. Tickets for Art After Dark will be available for purchase soon.

Event festivities began in Georgia’s Golden Isles on Thursday, as Sea Island naster French chef Jonathan Jerusalmy prepared a spectacular black-tie dinner at The Longleaf Affair. This year, guests join Jerusalmy on his own turf. 

Other celebrated Sea Island chefs joined Jerusalmy in preparing courses. Guests of the Longleaf Affair were entered into a Game of Chance to select an art piece valued at $10,000 from one of this year’s featured artists, painter Michelle Decker or sculptor Tom Hill.

On Saturday, Nov. 11, the City of Thomasville and CNS will present Wildlife Encounters: The Orianne Society and Center for Education’s Birds of Prey flight show, a free public kickoff event for all ages at the new Thomasville Amphitheater. On Nov. 14, another free event called Pines to the People will feature the unveiling of this year’s downtown public art event and bronze sculpture dedication in memory of longtime PWAF Committee member Scott Milberg.

The Red Hills Rover Rally, presented by The Wright Group, is back by popular demand. On Sunday, Nov. 12, venture off-road on the sprawling grounds of Pebble Hill Plantation. While you’re there, meet up with friends at Afternoon in the Field, presented by Thomas County Federal. An event for the whole family, Afternoon in the Field features wildlife exhibits, eats at the Red Hills Market, a private underwriter lounge in the evening and killer music featuring headliners North Mississippi Allstars and opening acts by Tallahassee natives, Katie Skene and Two Foot Level.

Pebble Hill Plantation is also pleased to have the Wild in the Country exhibition, on loan from the Genesee Country Village & Museum in New York, on display in the Elisabeth Ireland Poe Gallery in the Main House now through April 29. Wild in the Country showcases the “Big Four” — arguably the four most influential wildlife artists of the 19th and 20th century — Bruno Liljefors, Wilhelm Kuhnert, Carl Rungius and Bob Kuhn. These four painters changed wildlife painting, transforming the genre into an art form filled with sweeping and innovative portrayals of the natural world.

Another Cocktails and Conversations event will feature renowned tastemakers, mingling and mixology. On Thursday, Nov. 16, Out of the Woods: Cocktails and Conversations will allow guests to spend an intimate evening with some of the South’s finest lifestyles experts, including Robby Melvin, test kitchen director at Southern Living, author Libbie Summers and Southern Coterie founders Whitney Long and Cheri Leavy.

On Nov. 18, the Bird Bog Bash kicks off after the art show, featuring music by Bleu Burden, Southern fare and seasonal libations. Boots are encouraged for maximum foot tapping at this yearly favorite event at Pebble Hill Plantation’s Sugar Hill Barn.

No PWAF would be complete without something for makers. On the morning of Nov. 16, gather at Studio 209 for Women of Wildlife, a visual arts workshop featuring renowned artists Carrie Penley and Jane Ingols. On Nov. 18, learn to assemble smashing arrangements at the Creative Covey Floral Workshop, directed by Mandy O’Shea of Moonflower Design Studio. Both workshops are presented by Ashley HomeStore.

On art show Saturday and Sunday, little makers will have morning and afternoon opportunities to join local artist Karen Stauffer and Annie Jones from the Bookshelf for Beguiled by the Wild activities. During these free workshops, kids will make mini-masterpieces with Stauffer and partake in story time and a pop-up wildlife bookstore with the Bookshelf gang.

The festival is thrilled to welcome this year’s featured artists. Featured painter Michelle Decker of Parys, South Africa, is a returning PWAF artist and recent Thomasville Center for the Arts Artist in Residence. Featured sculptor Tom Hill is a first-time attending artist from Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.

In addition to a myriad of PWAF perks, underwriters are invited to an exclusive brunch on the festival’s final Sunday. The After the Hunt Brunch, hosted by Thomas University, will feature a robust Southern menu, including quail and other regional staples, and the opportunity to mingle with PWAF featured artists.

Tickets for all paid events will be available for purchase soon, either online at pwaf.org or by calling (229) 226-0588.

For more information on the 22nd Annual Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival, including how to become an underwriter, show admission and event ticket prices, this year’s full artist lineup and more, visit pwaf.org or find them on Facebook.

pwaf wildlife encounters article