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{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Geraldine Smitherman<br> "Jerry" Wray<br>
| name = Geraldine Smitherman<br> "Jerry" Wray<br>
(Shreveport artist)
(Shreveport watercolor artist)
| image=Jerry Wray.jpg
| image=Jerry Wray.jpg
| image_size =
| image_size =
| religion=[[Episcopalian]]
| religion=[[Episcopalian]]
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Home/Home?uid=598308|title=Geraldine Wray, December 1925|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=September 16, 2017}}</ref>
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Home/Home?uid=598308|title=Geraldine Wray, December 1925|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=September 16, 2017}}</ref>
| spouse=George Downing Wray, Jr. (married c. 1945-2008, his death)
| spouse=George Downing Wray, Jr. (married c. 1945-2008, his death)<br>
Four daughters
| relations=
| relations=
| parents=
| parents=
| footnotes=
| footnotes=
}}
}}
'''Geraldine Smitherman Wray''', known as '''Jerry Wray''' (December 15, 1925 – May 29, 2018), was a watercolor painter in her native [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/entertainment/arts/2018/05/29/shreveport-artist-jerry-wray-dies-92/652465002/|title=Jerry Wray, beloved Shreveport artist, is dead at 92|author=Michele Marcotte and Margaret "Maggie" Martin|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=May 29, 2018|accessdate=May 30, 2018}}</ref>
'''Geraldine Smitherman Wray''', known as '''Jerry Wray''' (December 15, 1925 – May 29, 2018), was a watercolor painter in her native [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]].<ref name=death>{{cite web|url=https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/entertainment/arts/2018/05/29/shreveport-artist-jerry-wray-dies-92/652465002/|title=Jerry Wray, beloved Shreveport artist, is dead at 92|author=Michele Marcotte and Margaret "Maggie" Martin|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=May 29, 2018|accessdate=May 30, 2018}}</ref>
She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1943 from the Newcomb College Art School at [[Tulane University]] in [[New Orleans]], at which she learned to work in watercolor as well as inks, acrylics, and collage to produce visual expressions with emphasis on color. She represented Newcomb at a student exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in [[New York City]]. Wray has won more than forty awards in the last thirty years in referred exhibits. She has had twenty-eight shows between 2002 and 2017 as well as group exhibitions throughout the United States and the [[Virgin Islands]]. Her paintings have been purchased internationally for Fortune 500 companies as well as private collections. A [[Germany|German]] firm purchased some of her originals. She was also in demand in [[Japan]]. In 1996, she was elected to the National Association of Women Artists. In 1999, she was won the showcase award from ''Manhattan Arts Magazine.'' Wray's work is available in seven galleries and seven museums worldwide, including the Meadows Museum in Shreveport and the Biblical Art Museum in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]].<ref name=resume>{{cite web|url=http://www.jerrywray.com/resume|title=Jerry Wray - Contemporary American Artist - Resume|publisher=jerrywray.com|accessdate=September 16, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jerry-wray.html?tab=about|title=About Jerry Wray|publisher=Fineartamerica.com|accessdate=September 16, 2017}}</ref>
She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1943 from the Newcomb College Art School at [[Tulane University]] in [[New Orleans]], at which she learned to work in watercolor as well as inks, acrylics, and collage to produce visual expressions with emphasis on color. She represented Newcomb at a student exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in [[New York City]]. Wray has won more than forty awards in the last thirty years in referred exhibits. She has had twenty-eight shows between 2002 and 2017 as well as group exhibitions throughout the United States and the [[Virgin Islands]]. Her paintings have been purchased internationally for Fortune 500 companies as well as private collections. A [[Germany|German]] firm purchased some of her originals. She was also in demand in [[Japan]]. In 1996, she was elected to the National Association of Women Artists. In 1999, she was won the showcase award from ''Manhattan Arts Magazine.'' Wray's work is available in seven galleries and seven museums worldwide, including the Meadows Museum in Shreveport and the Biblical Art Museum in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]].<ref name=resume>{{cite web|url=http://www.jerrywray.com/resume|title=Jerry Wray - Contemporary American Artist - Resume|publisher=jerrywray.com|accessdate=September 16, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jerry-wray.html?tab=about|title=About Jerry Wray|publisher=Fineartamerica.com|accessdate=September 16, 2017}}</ref>
Besides her solo paintings, Wray also painted with her four daughters and grandchildren. The three generations exhibited their work at the Barnwell Art Center in Shreveport. She has painted more than one thousand paintings between 2007 and 2017. From 2006 to 2017, she had twenty one-person shows. She was inducted into the Visual Arts Hall of Fame and the C. E. Byrd High School Hall of Fame, both in Shreveport.<ref name=resume/>
Besides her solo paintings, Wray also painted with her four daughters and grandchildren. The three generations exhibited their work at the Barnwell Art Center in Shreveport. She has painted more than one thousand paintings between 2007 and 2017. From 2006 to 2017, she had twenty one-person shows. She was inducted into the Visual Arts Hall of Fame and the C. E. Byrd High School Hall of Fame, both in Shreveport.<ref name=resume/> Daughter Mary Virginia Hill said that her mother was dedicated to her family, art, and tennis, which she had to stop playing for the last five years of her life.<ref name=death/>
Each week Wray opened her Spring Lake home to other artists who gained insight from one another. Karen K. Pearce, who attended many of the session in the Wray home said that Wray taught her to change her art from a realistic style to an expressionistic one.<ref name=death/>
Wray's family owns a Ford [[automobile]] dealership in Shreveport and KTBS-TV, the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] outlet in Shreveport founded as an [[NBC]] station in 1955. Her husband, George Downing Wray, Jr. (1915-2008), died of an aortic aneurysm while they were attending the [[opera]] in Shreveport. The Wrays have four married children, Mary Virginia Hill, of Shreveport, Deanie W. Galloway of [[Bossier City]], George D. Wray, III, of Shreveport, and Nancy Armistead of Mountain Home, [[Arkansas]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?pid=108593852|title=George Downing Wray, Jr.|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=April 29, 2008|accessdate=September 16, 2017}}</ref>
Wray's family owns a Ford [[automobile]] dealership in Shreveport and KTBS-TV, the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] outlet in Shreveport founded as an [[NBC]] station in 1955. Her husband, George Downing Wray, Jr. (1915-2008), died of an aortic aneurysm while they were attending the [[opera]] in Shreveport. The Wrays have four married children, Mary Virginia Hill, of Shreveport, Deanie W. Galloway of [[Bossier City]], George D. Wray, III, of Shreveport, and Nancy Armistead of Mountain Home, [[Arkansas]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?pid=108593852|title=George Downing Wray, Jr.|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=April 29, 2008|accessdate=September 16, 2017}}</ref>