A local arts supporter is getting a spotlight, courtesy of the state of Missouri.

The Missouri Arts Council announced the recipients for its 2010 Missouri Arts Awards Monday. Among the winners was Joseph Gray, owner and founder of Gray Manufacturing in St. Joseph, who won the Philanthropy Award.

With St. Joseph receiving a Creative Community Award in 2008 and the Allied Arts Council earning an arts organization honor in 2009, this marks the third straight year that St. Joseph has garnered recognition from the Missouri Arts Awards.

Mr. Gray, 87, is an avid art collector and patron who regularly purchases pieces from St. Joseph artists, museums and galleries, donates generously to numerous local arts organizations and attends many of their events. When the idea came up to nominate him for the Missouri Arts Awards’ Philanthropy category, it took a little bit of persuasion due to Mr. Gray’s personality.

“He’s very low-key and he likes to keep it that way,” said Terry Oldham, director for the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art. “It took almost a threat of his life to get us to let him be nominated.”

“In fact, I told my daughter don’t even bother,” Mr. Gray said on the thought of his nomination. “To my astonishment, I made it. I’m very proud.”

Many local arts institutions have benefited from Mr. Gray’s support. Ila Dell Youngblood, board member for Gallery 7, said Mr. Gray consistently purchases art from the gallery, and in 2007 he offered a challenge gift of $100,000 to the St. Joseph Symphony’s Endowment Fund.

“I think it’s the consistency and his lifelong affection for the arts and his support,” said Allied Arts Council executive director Teresa Fankhauser, on why Mr. Gray received the honor. “He’s one of those people you can always count on.”

Mr. Gray doesn’t actively seek attention for his support of the arts, and even with this award, he doesn’t see it as recognition for himself alone.

“You have to have a good arts community to be able to support it, and fortunately we do,” he said. “I look at that thing as more of an honor to the arts and the arts community than it is to me.”

The Missouri Arts Awards will officially be presented in a ceremony at 2 p.m. Feb. 10, 2010, at the Capitol Rotunda in Jefferson City, Mo.

Blake Hannon can be reached at blakehannon@npgco.com.