Donation supports Markham's Varley Art Gallery as winter exhibitions open

Longtime supporters pledged $150,000 to the Varley Art Gallery to launch a capital campaign and a curatorial scholarship, and the gallery opened its 2026 winter season featuring two exhibitions that examine museum histories.

Longtime supporters have pledged $150,000 to the Varley Art Gallery to help launch a capital campaign and a new curatorial scholarship program. The gallery recognized Dr. Sylvester and Pauline Chuang on Feb. 3 for a $50,000 leadership gift to the Varley-McKay Art Foundation of Markham. The Chuangs also committed $10,000 annually for 10 years toward the scholarship. The announcement came just before the gallery opened its 2026 winter season. Key details: - The total pledge reported is $150,000 to support a capital campaign and a curatorial scholarship at the Varley Art Gallery. - Dr. Sylvester and Pauline Chuang were acknowledged for a $50,000 leadership gift and a separate commitment of $10,000 per year for 10 years to establish the scholarship program. - Details on scholarship eligibility and the application process are still being finalized; the gallery listed Francesca Dauphinais (fdauphinais@markham.ca) as a contact for information, as reported. - The gallery's winter season opened Feb. 7 and runs through May 2026. - One featured exhibition, "Sameer Farooq: The Fairest Order in the World," presents new and recent sculptures and images that invite reflection on the histories of art and anthropology museums, including collecting practices and colonial legacies. - The other exhibition, "Sketching the Past," displays drawings by Group of Seven member F.H. Varley made at the Royal Ontario Museum in the 1950s alongside historical photographs, highlighting Varley's interest in the ROM's Chinese collection and dinosaur halls. Summary: The reported gifts provide seed funding for the gallery's capital campaign and for a curatorial scholarship that is still being defined. The winter exhibition season, which opened Feb. 7 and runs through May, includes shows that look at museum histories through contemporary work and historical sketches. Details on further campaign steps and the scholarship timeline were not specified and remain undetermined at this time.