6 Watercolor artist | JUNE 2020
Happenings
/ MAKING A SPLASH /
Mary
Whyte
For seven years, internationally
renowned artist Mary Whyte traveled
the country sketching, photograph-
ing and interviewing along the way.
Her mission: to paint 50 large-scale
watercolor portraits of current-day
American veterans—one from each
and every state.
We the People: Portraits of Veterans
in America is Whyte’s remarkable
series depicting military veterans
of all ages, from all walks of life.
Portraits of a Pennsylvania science
teacher, a South Carolina single
mother, a Missouri dairy farmer
and scores of others make up a show-
case of real people, with real stories,
that’s both powerful and timeless.
Th e multifaceted project also
includes a book, We the People
(University of South Carolina Press).
It also inspired the founding of a new
nonprofi t, Patriot Art Foundation. Th e
foundation seeks to honor veterans,
provide support as they return to civil-
ian life, and connect them to online
art, history and healing resources.
Whyte’s exhibition opened at the City
Gallery, in Charleston, S.C., in 2019. It
will travel next to the National Veterans
Memorial and Museum in Columbus,
Ohio, through September 2020.
Eventually, Whyte hopes to fi nd
a permanent home for the series.
“Th e ultimate goal is to keep all of
the paintings together on permanent
exhibition,” she says. “I just want
a place where veterans can come
in and look and say, ‘I mattered.’ ”