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j the frederick horsman varley art gallery of markham 31 may 1997 a passion for kathleen gormley mckay patron of the arts 18991996 to say that the frederick horsman var ley art gallery of markham is the result of one persons efforts alone would dis miss the many who have worked so hard to see it come to fruition without kathleen gormley mckay however the gallery would certainly not exist and quite likely nor would many of the masterpieces it holds kathleen gormley mckay was born in unionville in 1899 her father a landowner and her mother a gifted amateur singer sent her to the royal con servatory of music to study voice she met her hus band donald while singing in a church choir and married him in 1927 in st phillips church located next to the gallery donalds job as a food chemist with a large american pharmaceutical company took the couple to baltimore in the late 1930s donald developed multiple sclerosis forcing the couple to return to toronto where they purchased a rooming house in 1952 kathleen visited the studio of frederick varley to inquire about com missioning a portrait of her husband for the next 17 years a close friendship devel oped between the mckays and the aging artist who shortly after their meeting accepted an invitation to live with kathleen and donald in 1957 the trio moved to kathleens ancestral home in unionville a gothic revival style cottage they dubbed burndennet built originally by her greatgrandfa ther salem eckhardt in the 1840s varley encouraged kathleens artistic efforts the two often embarked on sketching trips together kathleens art displaying a marked influence by her donald and kathleen c1922 kathleen gormley mckay was a frequent subject of frederick varley this is a charcoal and pencil sketch kathy c1953 teacher in turn she nurtured varleys artistic passion by setting up a studio for him in the basement of their unionville home and flaunting his talents at every opportunity as a famed member of the group of seven kathleen was a significant source of artistic inspi ration for varley in the last years of his life often posing as his model the insightful artist captured kathleens many moods from his reverent depic tions of her beauty and warmth to snapshots of her captivating smile and studies of his subject in tran quil repose after her husband died in 1968 fol lowed by varley in 1969 kathleen returned to toronto with the consid erable collection of works by varley and his contemporaries she had the former burndennet cottage on unionville main st is now the kathleen gormley mckay art centre above varley and gormley mckay at home c1957 amassed over the years kathleen then sold her his toric unionville house to the town o markham in 1978 ten years later despite being cou ted by other art institutions she signed an agreement with the town whereby she promised to donate her entire collection of more than 80 oil paintings water- colours and drawings to be housed in a gallery suit able to their display and preservation soon after the town purchased a unionville property at the north west corner of main street and carlton road as the gallery site just a few short steps from that site the cottage that had been home to varley and the mck ays was converted into the kathleen gormley mckay art centre a venue for exhibitions by local artists and art class es kathleens longtime dream to establish the frederick horsman var ley art gallery of markham began to materialize in the fall of 1994 with kathleen the guest star at the ground breaking ceremony as fate would have it just months before the gallery was due to open kathleen mckay passed away in toronto at the age of 97 the guiding light behind the frederick horsman varley art gallery of markham will always be kath leen gormley mckay she is remembered affectionately by those who knew her as a woman of indomitable spirit pos sessing a wry sense of humour and displaying great generosity kathleens gift is now a part of markhams trea sured legacy varley a celebration 10