MOULTRIE, Ga. — Moultrie artist Jean Gay has produced her fifth Christmas ornament for the City of Moultrie. 

This year’s ornament features the Colquitt County Courthouse. The design is based on a painting by Gay and commissioned by the city. The painting “is featuring the courthouse under a dusk sky accented with fuschia pink; showing a multiple vivid sunset colors of orange, red, turquoise and gold,” said Gay in an interview Monday.

Gay’s previous ornaments include 2008’s Moultrie Presbyterian Church, 2015’s Moultrie High School, 2018’s Grand Theatre and 2019’s Cranford Jewelry Store. While the 2018 and 2019 renditions both feature small parts of the courthouse, this year’s is the first one where Gay painted the courthouse as the main focal point, she said.

Gay was originally commissioned for the painting in April. She began by taking multiple photographs of the courthouse from “many different angles.” She decided on a photo that heavily featured the magnolia trees and the courthouse’s prominent dome. 

She worked on the painting with input from various city officials including Amy Johnson, City of Moultrie downtown economic development and public relations director. 

“Amy had suggested adding some pink into the sky. I’m personally not a big fan of pink in skylines but it turned out very nice,” Gay said.

The painting was presented to Johnson and the city. Its canvas now sits in Johnson’s office but is used throughout the city’s Welcome Center. Most recently it was featured in the conference area during Herschel Walker’s visit to Moultrie in mid-November, according to Gay.

The process to turn the painting into this year’s ornament was finalized in October. But preparations for the painting’s transition began as early as July.

“(Johnson) and I sat down and discussed what best to apply the painting onto the ornament,” Gay said. “There are many things that need to be considered… The way it’s printed, the size and dimensions of the painting on the ornament, how much space the image takes up on the ornament and so much more.”

While Gay was commissioned by the city, she is not receiving any payment for the sales of the ornaments. Those profits go to the Downtown Moultrie Association who then put the money back into downtown Moultrie, Gay said.

Ornaments went on sale the night of the downtown’s Lights! Lights! Celebration. Most downtown shops are selling the ornament but many are quickly selling out, according to Johnson.

“They are very popular. We’re not sure yet if we’ll be able to order another set. Please get them while they’re still available,” Johnson said.