Vol. 15, No. 3 March 2011 - Carolina Arts

Greenville County Museum ofArt in Greenville, SC,Offers Works by Mary WhyteWatercolors tell the poignant storiesof people whose jobs are fading awayin the exhibition Mary Whyte: WorkingSouth, which opens to the public on Mar.9 and continues through Sept. 18, 2011, atthe Greenville County Museum of Art inGreenville, SC.Working South brings together fifty watercolors,the product of a 3½-year projectby Charleston, SC, artist Mary Whyte,which resulted in the newly released bookfrom USC Press, Working South: Paintingsand Sketches by Mary Whyte. Thetheme began to develop in 2007 when shewas working on a commissioned portraitof a Greenville banker. While he wasposing for sketches, Whyte commentedon a newspaper headline about the closingof a textile mill. “In ten years,” said hersubject, “all of those jobs may be gone.”That conversation inspired a journeythrough ten Southern states, as Whyteresearched and interviewed subjects, developingthe studies that would culminatein paintings of hard-working Americans inprofessions that often fall under the radar.These are intimate portraits of workersleft behind when jobs are outsourced orshipped offshore, people who are morerelated to the “old economy” than the new.They are cotton pickers and textile millworkers, wooden boat builders, crabbersand shrimpers, and tobacco farmers,among many others.Spinner, textile mill worker, Gaffney, SCWhyte met Annie Lindsay at theSpringfield Mill in Gaffney, SC. The artistasked the woman to pose for photographsof her at work for the painting that wouldbecome Spinner. In Bishopville, SC,Whyte was working on sketches at adiner when she met an itinerant crew ofindustrial cleaners. They are presented inthe monumentally scaled Fifteen MinuteBreak. “They looked like chimneysweeps,” said the artist. “The only cleanplace on them was where they wore theirgoggles.”BeeKeeper’s Daughter, beekeeper, Simpsonville, SCWhyte found her subjects one by onewith suggestions from family, friends, andPage 18 - Carolina Arts, March 2011people she met along the way. She wasn’talways welcomed, as she explained ina book she published to accompany theexhibition, “A few company executivesbristled at my request to paint a ‘vanishingindustry.’ I was shown the door more thanonce.”“I had a pretty good idea of where Iwas going with my list, and what kind ofperson I would meet,” added Whtye. “Ikept working my way south until I foundwhat I was looking for, or until it foundme. Any pre-conceptions I had wouldalmost always prove to be wrong. I wascontinually astonished by the people Imet, not only by their differences but bythe things they had in common.”Upstate South Carolina plays a centralrole in the exhibition. Not only did Whytefind several of her subjects here, but shealso spent portions of two summers paintingin a cottage in rural Simpsonville,SC. Owned by Doug and Billie Hogg,the cottage became Whyte’s home andstudio as she escaped the summer bustleof Charleston. She worked nearly twelvehours a day, taking a break at noon toshare a farm-style meal with the Hoggs,who tended bees and grew vegetablesthat Whyte found almost unimaginable.One of their daughters, Jane Bechdoldt,is featured in the painting Beekeeper’sDaughter.“There are hundreds of people I couldhave painted,” wrotethe artist. “Some of mychoices were simplysubjective. Most often,I looked for a profoundquality, a humanness,that is easily recognizedand can translateinto the simplest ofpaintings.”Born in Ohio in1953, Whyte graduatedfrom the Tyler Schoolof Art in Philadelphia,PA, with a degree infine arts and a teachingcertificate. She hasearned national recognitionin both watercolorand oil painting,but she is recognized principally for herfigurative watercolors. Whyte’s portraitscan be found in corporate, university, andprivate collections, and in museums thatinclude the Greenville County Museumof Art.Whyte is also an avid teacher whoconducts painting workshops at locationsaround the country, including anannual session at the Greenville Museum.She has written instructional books andarticles, including Watercolor for the SeriousBeginner, 1995, and An Artist’s Wayof Seeing, 2005.Here’s an excerpt from theforeword from Whyte’s bookWorking South, written by MarthaSeverens, former curator,Greenville County Museum ofArt.“Working South is not onlythe title of a recent body ofwork by Mary Whyte, but alsoa metaphor for her personaltransition from the North tothe South. Through her art andsincere personality, she hasworked her way into the heartsand minds of southerners,whether natives or recent arrivals.Like the many sitters in herpaintings, Whyte is emblematicof a New South, except for thefact that her subjects representindustries that are shrinking,if not disappearing, while herreputation and horizons are everexpanding.”“This series is not her firstfocusing on southerners; for tenyears she painted members of achurch community not far from her adoptcontinuedabove on next column to the righted home on Seabrook Island near Charleston,South Carolina. Culminating in abook and a traveling exhibition, Alfreda’sWorld celebrates the warmth and generosityof spirit that embraced Whyte shortlyafter her arrival in the area. Moving fromPhiladelphia, where she had attended theTyler School of Art, she was primed for anurturing environment after a recent boutwith cancer. As she explains: ‘We knewthat we had to move to a place that wouldgive us deeper meaning to our lives - aplace where we could reinvent ourselvesand start over.’ Her encounter with Alfredaand her fellow quilt makers at the HebronZion St. Francis Senior Center on JohnsIsland was a happy accident that bore fruitin many ways.”There are several programs relatedto the exhibition in the museum’sSundays@2 series. All take place onSundays at 2pm and all are free and opento the public. On Mar. 13, Whyte will givean illustrated lecture on the exhibition. Abook signing with the artist will follow.A docent-led tour of Working South takesplace on Apr. 17 and June 19; and membersof the Emrys literary foundation willoffer poetic interpretations of the art onMay 1. A Working South Family Adventuretakes place on July 17, 2011.The exhibition is sponsored by CarolinaFirst. Carolina First Bank is a tradename of TD Bank, N.A.An exhibition of works from WorkingSouth will travel throughout the Souththrough 2013. After leaving Greenvillethe exhibit will be on view, Dec. 1, 2011- Mar. 11, 2012, at the Morris MuseumFirst Citizens Bank in Hendersonville,NC, in conjunction with The Arts Councilof Henderson County in Hendersonville,NC, is presenting the exhibit, Mentors andStudents, which consists of three exhibitions:The Art of Our Children: ElementarySchool Exhibit (on view through Mar.11), Art Teachers Create (Mar. 18 throughApr. 1), and Artists of Tomorrow: SecondaryStudent Exhibition (Apr. 8 – 22, 2011).Mentors and Students is sponsored inpart by Morris Broadband, First CitizensBank, WTZQ AM 1600, and the Times-News. Additional supporting sponsorsinclude: Van Winkle Law Firm, EducationFoundation of Henderson County, andof Art in Augusta, GA; May 4 - Sept. 9,2012, at the Gibbes Museum of Art inCharleston, SC; Oct. 5, 2012 - Feb. 24,2013, at the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah,GA; and Apr. 6 - July 7, 2013, atthe Peninsula Fine Arts Center in NewortNews, VA.Study for Beekeeper, Simpsonville, SCWorking South: Paintings and Sketchesby Mary Whyte - 10” x 11 1/2”, 128 pages,55 color illustrations, 6 black & whiteillustrations, hardcover. For further infoabout the book visit (http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/books/2011/3967.html).For further information about theGreenville County Museum of Art or theexhibit check our SC Institutional Gallerylistings, call the Museum at 864/271-7570or visit (www.greenvillemuseum.org).First Citizens Bank in Hendersonville,NC, Offers Mentors & Students ExhibitWoolworth Walk in Asheville, NC, willpresent the exhibit, Creation, featuringgourd works by Debbie Skelly and works inceramics by Avian Thibault, on view in theFW Front Gallery, from Mar. 1 - 30, 2011.A reception will be held on Mar. 4, from4-6pm.Debbie Skelly’s love for gourds startedwhen she moved to Maggie Valley, NC, in2005. She saw her first gourd in a galleryin Boone, NC, and from that day on sheknew that she wanted to work with gourds.Skelly’s designs are influenced by nature,Native American and Southwestern styles.She often incorporates dream catchers,bears, turtles, butterflies, hummingbirds,dragonflies, and kokopellis into her gourds.Skelly uses a variety of mediums such asleather dyes, inks, polishes, paint and clay.Carving and wood burnings are also used onmany of her gourds, and natural embellishmentsand beads often added as accents.Avian Thibault creates ceramic wall tilesembellished with sacred images. She hasalways been curious about the true inceptionof all religions, and is deeply fascinated bythe ones she finds to be enlighted around theworld. She started making “sacred tabletsfor peaceful places” in the year 2000. Sheloves creating these sacred images, describingit as a “blissful meditation”, and thrivesoff of bringing them to life for others toenjoy.For further information check our NCCommercial Gallery listings, call the galleryEconomy Drugs.The Arts Council of Henderson Countyis a community organization that promotes,advocates for and nurtures the artsin Henderson County and western NorthCarolina. The Arts Council is supported inpart by the North Carolina Arts Council,several funds administered by the CommunityFoundation of Henderson County,and the Henderson County Travel andTourism Bureau.For further information check ourNC Institutional Gallery listings, call theCouncil at 828/693-8504 or visit (www.acofhc.org).Woolworth Walk in Asheville,NC, Features Works by DebbieSkelly and Avian ThibaultWork by Avian Thibaultat 828/254-9234 or visit (www.woolworthwalk.com).