Gladys Joerger Gray (1908-1991) was a San Luis Obispo artist and benefactor to the San Luis Obispo Art Center (now the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art).
Gray was born May 28, 1908 on the Old Joerger Ranch in Truckee. She received a bachelor's degree in art from Fresno State College and did graduate work in art at UC Berkeley and Claremont College.
Gray came to San Luis Obispo in 1946 with her husband Stanton Gray, who was hired as the head of the Fruit Science Department at Cal Poly. She was a painter who created watercolor and paper collages. In 1977 Gray and local painters formed the Central Coast Watercolor Society.
She was an honorary life member of the San Luis Obispo Art Association, a life member of the Laguna Beach Art Association, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London and the first life member of the Cal Poly President's Round Table. A room in the Cal Poly Alumni House was named the Gladys Gray Room. With her husband she was a major contributor to the building of the San Luis Obispo Art Center; a wing was named the Gray Wing in their honor.
Gladys Gray passed away in August 1991.
Her work is held in the permanent art collections of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.
More information
- Stanton and Gladys Gray Interview, Cal Poly Pomona, 1972.
- Diane Holt, "Gladys Gray: Art has colored all the days of her life," San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune, Foucs, pg. 3, February 8, 1986.
- Cal Poly Permanent Art Collection
- San Luis Obispo Museum of Art Permanent Collection
Citations
Susan McDonald, "Gladys Gray, artist and benefactor, dies" San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune, August 20, 1991, pg 5.
