‘Like a cathedral’, says Newmarket artist of legendary Mulock Farm

'Mulock Farm: Artists Preserve History' exhibit runs until Jan. 23

YorkRegion.com
January 2, 2019
Amanda Persico

Art imitates majestic life when it comes to the Mulock Farm Estate legacy.

This past June, members of the Society of York Region Artists (SOYRA) spent a day painting the property in all its glory.

And these works are on display at Old Town Hall in Newmarket until Jan. 23.

Through the special art exhibit, Mulock Farm: Artists Preserve History, you, too, can view the incredible property.

For the first time, members of the public were allowed to wander the property,

“It was just magical,” said SOYRA president Linda Welch, who’s home backs on to the property.

“I can see some of the trees from my back window and thought they were massive. But to see them up close was incredible.”

For close to two decades, Welch got to know Debbie Mulock Barbour, the great-great granddaughter of Sir William Mulock.

After discovering she was a photographer and painter, Welch was asked to capture the family’s peony bed, a 60-foot bed of big, fluffy flowers that were planted generations ago.

It was this gift exchange and a cup of tea between neighbours that opened the door for a selected group of artists to paint the estate as it was before it changed ownership and was redeveloped into an iconic community park.

Welch put a call out to artists interested in a plein air day trip without giving away details.

It was planned as a mystery art experience, where artists knew only that it was an important property with historic significance.

“It was remarkable watching them,” Welch said of the artists. “It was like walking into a cathedral. And I’m not a religious person, but there was this sense of awe.”

Armed with paintbrushes and given the freedom to roam and connect with the property, the 12 artists spent the day capturing the legendary estate.

“There was a sense of calm, no one was talking,” Welch said. “Plein air painting is about capturing the feeling of a place and the enjoyment of just being in a place.”

The exhibit features a number of pieces, each with a different view of the majestic property, from the grand portico and sweeping shape of the porch to back of the property looking through the grove of massive black walnut trees.

Welch was initially attracted to the massive trees, but she came across stone carvings near the peaks on the east side of the former Mulock family summer home.

The engraved stone monogram of Sir William Mulock, a formidable name in Canadian history can be seen from the ground.

“This fascinated me,” Welch said. “It was like a signature on the house, saying ‘This is us. This is our house.’”

History of the Mulock Farm Estate:

• The local landmark sits on 11.6 acres at the northwest corner of Yonge Street and Mulock Drive;
• The home was purchased by Sir William Mulock in the early 1880s from members of the Rogers family, Newmarket’s first Quaker settlers;
• Mulock was first elected as the Liberal MP for North York in 1887 and held his seat for 23 years under Sir Wilfrid Laurier. He served as Canada’s first labour minister and implemented minimum wage;
• The estate became a place for important meetings and social gatherings for notable guests, including Guglielmo Marconi, Frederick Banting, Charles Best, and Edward VIII;
• The property also served as an experimental farm, testing new farming methods and growing new crops and hybrid fruits and becoming a place of agricultural leadership and training.