The Morris Museum of Art presents Working South: Paintings and Sketches by Mary Whyte an exhibition on view through MARCH 11, 2012.

Mary Whyte, Pilgrimage, Funeral Band, Miami, Florida, 2009. Watercolor on paper, 39 x 48 inches. Collection of Cecile and Marc Noël. Image courtesy of the artist.

From the textile mill worker and tobacco farmer to the sponge diver and elevator operator, Mary Whyte has sought out some of the last remnants of rural and industrial workforces declining or altogether lost through changes in our economy, environment, technology, and fashion.

She is a teacher and author whose figurative paintings have earned national recognition. A resident of Johns Island, South Carolina, she has been inspired in much of her work by the Gullah descendants of slaves, who number among her most prominent subjects.

Whyte is the featured artist at the Morris Museum’s 2012 gala. The present exhibition of her paintings and sketches is accompanied by a book published by the University of South Carolina Press and available through the Morris Museum store. – www.themorris.org

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