Mary Whyte is an American figurative artist known internationally for her watercolors of contemporary people. Her works are in private, corporate, university and public collections nationwide and have been featured in numerous media outlets including CBS Sunday Morning, PBS and NPR.
The author of seven books, including We the People: Portraits of Veterans in America, her work has been featured in many international publications, including periodicals and books in China, Russia, France, Germany, Canada and Taiwan.
The recipient of numerous awards, including the Portrait Society of America’s Gold Medal, the Carolinas Freedom Foundation’s Freedom Award and the South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Arts — South Carolina’s highest honor in the arts — Whyte founded the Patriot Art Foundation in 2019 as a means to honor and inspire veterans through the arts.
Whyte received the 2020 National DAR Medal of Honor and the 2020 NSDAR Women in the Arts Award, and Converse University in Spartanburg, South Carolina, awarded her an honorary doctorate in 2021. She received the Annie Oakley Society Award in 2022 for her role as a leader in the artistic community and for her inspirational work with veterans through the Patriot Art Foundation.
Whyte’s groundbreaking museum exhibition We the People: Portraits of Veterans in America, consisting of 50 large-scale watercolors featuring one veteran from each state, opened in 2019 and continues to travel to various museum locations throughout the United States.