Mary Whyte: Working South

Working South, Whyte’s latest collection of paintings and sketches, focuses on once abundant blue-collar professions that are now disappearing from the Southern workforce—from textile mill workers and quiltmakers to shrimpers and shoe shiners. Each day-in-the-life portrait reflects an evident sense of pride and perseverance.

The traveling exhibit opens today (May 4) at Charleston’s Gibbes Museum of Art, where it will remain until September 9. From there it will make stops at Savannah’s Telfair Museum and at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News, Virginia. Those who want to peruse the series at home can pick up a copy of Whyte’s recently published coffee table compendium, also called Working South.