Converse Intern Meets Nationally-Known Artist

Cindy Shurbutt, ‘11, wanted to get an inside look at the operations of a non-profit museum. Her three months interning in the Program Office of the Greenville County Museum of Art (GMCA) gave her just that, an opportunity to explore everything from collections to programs to how an exhibit is executed.

Cindy’s primary project at the GMCA was to assist with the exhibit for watercolor artist Mary Whyte. Whyte, who has been featured on CBS, is known for painting subjects who represent the last remnants of a Southern tradition, including the south’s last funeral band, mill workers, and a drive-in movie operator. In addition to meeting the artist and taking part in discussions about the artist’s intentions, Cindy led a book discussion of Sue Monk Kidd’s “Secret Life of Bees,” juxtaposed against a painting by Whyte entitled Bee Keeper’s Daughter.

Cindy was also able to assist and participate in several studio workshops and assist with the Andrew Wythe collection. She credits the course she took for her art history major and studio art minor as vitally important to her work in the internship.

“I was well prepared through my education, which has provided me the opportunity to gain knowledge in the subjects I have a passion for.”