Verner Award recipient Mary Whyte releases portrait book

We the People hits just in time for Veterans Day

Internationally acclaimed watercolor artist Mary Whyte, a 2013 recipient of the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Governor’s Award for the arts, has a poignant new collection of watercolor portraits being released just in time for Veterans Day this coming Monday.

We the People: Portraits of American Veterans, is just available through University of South Carolina Press. The collection of watercolor portraits of military veterans from each of the 50 states: men and women from all walks of life and every branch of the military. This moving tribute by Whyte captures the dedication, responsibility, and courage of these true patriots, instilling in us a greater sense of gratitude for their willingness to sacrifice their own lives to protect the hard-earned freedom we all enjoy.

Mary Whyte is a Charleston based artist and author whose watercolor paintings have earned international recognition. Her works have been exhibited in galleries and museums and featured in publications nationally and internationally. Whyte is the author of five books including Working South and Down Bohicket Road. She is the recipient of the Portrait Society of America’s Gold Medal and the Verner Award, South Carolina’s highest honor in the arts.

CBS “Sunday Morning” viewers will get to see an interview with Whyte this coming Sunday, and she is to appear Thursday, Nov. 14 on SCETV’s “Palmetto Scene.”

An exhibition of the 50 portraits is running through Dec. 22 at City Gallery in Charleston. The Post and Courier called the collection “a feat of artistry.” It will go on a national tour in the new year.

“Family,” single mother, watercolor on paper, 29 x 27.5 inches, 2018. Tanya, Hanahan, SC, Marines E-4, 2006-2009