Janet Tifft embraced and developed her artistic expression over the course of her lifetime, spanning 1932 to 2015, and encouraged others to do the same.

While I knew Janet personally and professionally only during the last decade of her life, I had the privilege of meeting various stages of her expression through art – which I helped to inventory and archive. I met Janet thanks to our mutual ties to Tucson artists’ communities. Janet and I began working together in 2009 after she discovered I was beginning to develop and offer a variety of multimedia services. Initially, her main objectives were organizing her studio and archiving her art. Her ultimate goal was to ensure her family would be able to enjoy her art after she passed.  A journey of 6 years working together would include these tasks and many others that emerged over time. During this time, I developed a deep understanding of her art and means expressing herself creatively.

In the process of helping Janet inventory her studio (which involved extensive time spent organizing and cataloging Janet’s art and materials), we found our artistic inclinations naturally coalesced. My background with new technologies provided Janet new worlds of creative possibilities, while she offered me priceless insights and guidance in the arts and life itself. It was a special experience to know her and have her friendship. From the goal to help her family enjoy her art came the project of archiving her sketchbooks, a very vital component of her artistic evolution. While scanning her sketchbooks and photographing of her art, I was inspired to play with these captures with video editing software. I produced a short video of images animated to pan and zoom using the Ken Burns effect rhythmically timed with the melodious music.  This excited Janet’s spirits and so began a new chapter in presenting her work, circa 2011.

Janet absolutely loved music and seeing her art dance with her favorite songs was a joy she called “hypnotic.” Along with the development of creative video slideshows, I began employing my emerging skills with web design to produce online curations of her art. Janet loved the samples I produced and decided to invest in her own website. This project represented many stages and subjects and would end up being the focal point of our work together until she passed away in 2015.

Throughout my time working with Janet, I never could have imagined the bond we would form. I am honored to have had the experience of knowing Janet and her playful, persevering spirit. Janet was an incredible model, mentor, and beloved friend to so many. As her husband Bill began the development of the Arts and Science Heritage Fund, he recognized me as the natural arts representative. Bill has been dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the achievements in their respective fields. Bill’s view of the universe influenced Janet’s art and Janet’s art enhanced his perception of reality, opening his eyes to the remarkable beauty of the world in which we reside.  It is a momentous privilege to contribute to the process of paying forward her gifts in the form of heritage guide, which is a current project that will help potential grantees of the heritage fund.