Lilias Farley (1907 – 1989)
	
Lilias Farley attended the Vancouver Art School and the B.C. College of Art where she studied painting, drawing, sculpture, puppetry, and stage design. She studied under notable artists like F.H. Varley, a member of the Group of Seven, and Jock Macdonald. She received two postgraduate scholarships at the Vancouver Art School. After graduation, she taught privately at a Vancouver high school and for two years at the B.C. College of Art. Lilias came to Whitehorse in January 1948 for what she planned to be a month-long trip to visit her brother Arthur. She enjoyed the Yukon and one month turned into four. When the superintendent of education asked to stay and teach, with the promise of a house, she decided to try it for a year. There were no arts facilities and people did not buy local art. Her first art class was in the basement of the Whitehorse Elementary and Highschool with no sinks or running water. After a few years, she moved to teach at F.H. Collins in a proper room with triple sinks and view.((Ted Thaler, “Month-long visit turns into life-long sojourn.” //The Yukon News// (Whitehorse), 10 January 1983.))
Lilias Farley taught art in Whitehorse to students in grades five to twelve for over twenty-five years. Many of these students won international competitions and went on to art-related careers. She was a world-renowned artist known for her sculptures and murals, one of which is in the atrium of the Elijah Smith federal building. Farley retired in 1972 to a deluge of messages from friends and former students living around the world.((“Lilias Farley.” Yukon Archives, //Outstanding Yukon Women!,// 2019 website: http://www.tc.gov.yk.ca/archives/wc/outstanding/artists3.htm))