Gibbes Museum of Art Closes Entries for 2014 Mary Whyte Art Educator Award

CHARLESTON, SC – The Gibbes Museum of Art is pleased to announce that three finalists have been selected for the annual Mary Whyte Art Educator Award. Established in 2007, this award is designed to highlight a high school visual art teacher in South Carolina school districts who has demonstrated superior commitment to their students and to their craft. The award is accompanied by a cash prize of $2,500 and is administered and presented annually by the Gibbes Museum of Art.

“The Gibbes Museum of Art is honored to be able to present the Mary Whyte Art Educator Award to a South Carolina high school visual arts teacher. With the support of renowned artist Mary Whyte, we have been able to recognize deserving teachers for the past six years and look forward to doing the same for many years to come,” says Rebecca Sailor, Gibbes Museum Curator of Education.

Entries for the annual award and $2,500 cash prize were made exclusively online at www.marywhyteaward.org through March 1, 2014. This year’s winner will be announced in November at the South Carolina Art Education Association’s annual conference in Greenville. Applications for the 2015 Mary Whyte Award will open in September, 2014.

Watercolor artist Mary Whyte is a teacher and author whose figurative paintings have earned national recognition. A resident of Johns Island, South Carolina, Whyte garners much of her inspiration from the Gullah descendants of coastal Carolina slaves who number among her most prominent subjects. Her portraits are included in numerous corporate, private, and university collections, as well as in the permanent collections of the Gibbes Museum of Art and the Greenville County Museum of Art. Her paintings have been featured in International Artist, Artist, American Artist, Watercolor, and American Art Collector, L’Art de Aquarelle, and numerous other publications. Whyte is the author of numerous books and her work can be found at Coleman Fine Art in Charleston, where her husband, Smith Coleman, manages the gallery and makes gilded and carved frames.

GIBBES MUSEUM OF ART

Established as the Carolina Art Association in 1858, the Gibbes Museum of Art opened its doors to the public in 1905.  Located in Charleston’s historic district, the Gibbes houses a premier collection of over 10,000 works, principally American with a Charleston or Southern connection, and presents special exhibitions throughout the year. In addition, the museum offers an extensive complement of public programming and educational outreach initiatives that serve the community by stimulating creative expression and improving the region’s superb quality of life. Highlights of the Gibbes collection can now be viewed on Google Art Project at www.googleartproject.com.