Letter From Our Director

At the Varley Art Gallery of Markham our core mission is to work with artists and communities to present compelling exhibitions and innovative public and education programs. These activities, however, are not intended as ends in themselves, but as the means through which we create critical conversations about the nature of Canadian art and society. Our vision, ultimately, is to inspire our diverse communities to engage with art and participate in the production of social and cultural meaning. This fall our major exhibition clearly reflects these goals. Tout-Monde: Markham is an exciting project launched in partnership with Elegoa Cultural Productions and co-curated by Catherine Sicot and Anik Glaude. Six artists have been commissioned to create original, film-based projects that explore encounters among a range of social and cultural groups in Markham. The results are all of funny, thought-provoking and profoundly moving.

A second component of our mission is to share and celebrate the life and work of F. H. Varley, a founding member of the Group of Seven, and the person for whom the Gallery is named. This fall’s 197 Main Street focusses on several studios inhabited by Varley over his career, but particularly his final one, located in the basement of what is now the McKay Art Centre on Main Street Unionville.