To celebrate this 100th birthday, the AGO has created a special exhibit at The Grange called House Guests: Contemporary Artists in The Grange. These guests are seven contemporary artists, who have integrated their works into the stately mansion so that they appear to be part of it rather than being intruders. I found it quite enchanting the way the artists' melded their ideas into the various rooms of this home, in fact capturing its spirit in a variety of ways.

In the upstairs music room of this Georgian house, now emptied of its chandelier and a few of its furnishings, is the installation by Peruvian-born Canadian artist Luis Jacob. It consists of a long, horizontal row of vertical strings peppered with little white fairy lights that glow in the darkened room. It appears to be a magical capturing of the spirit of the people who once were entertained there.

Also upstairs is, what I would call my most favourite work, a bedspread on the four-poster bed of the master bedroom. It was created by Rebecca Belmore, an Anishnabe from Upsala, Ontario, in response to a story (true or not) told about the first lady of The Grange. Sarah Anne Boulton rested in the bed after the birth of her sixth child, infant at her side. Suddenly a Native man appeared in the room ( the house then was surrounded by woods and not too far from the shores of Lake Ontario). Seeing the white woman in the bed he is said to have remarked, "Pretty squaw. Pretty papoose," then vanished as quickly as he had come.

Belmore has taken dark red taffeta and fringed it with long skeins of black hair, which is also worked into the main body of the spread. The canopy is covered with matching material and the top of the four posts are surrounded with beaver pelts.

On the first floor artist Robert Fones has taken possession of what was the original library and office of the house. Here D'Arcy Boulton and later his son, William, spent their time. Fones created a panorama of back-lit photographs that cover the shelves of the bookcases. As one enters the room two very modern teenage girls appear on the beech of Lake Ontario, on the opposite site is an open view of the lake. On it, in one panel, a fully rigged schooner, the Speedy, has been superimposed . It was digitally inserted and was taken from a 19th century watercolour by Owen Staples. The vessel  sank in 1804. One of the victims in this marine disaster was Robert Gray, the solicitor-general of Upper Canada, whose land the Boultons had purchased for The Grange. On the panel closest to the entrance door floats a battered Victorian porcelain doll. It is perhaps an allusion to the first Mrs. Boulton's fruitfulness, and to Harriet's barrenness.

At the end of this narrow room is a door that leads into a much granter library. It was built by Goldwin Smith in the Victorian style, quite removed from the Georgian simplicity of the rest of the house. Smith was a true Victorian, a man who objected to lending libraries because he believed they negatively influenced female sensibilities. His foreboding looking portrait hangs in the room. The Oxford-educated third master of The Grange taught at Cornell University until it admitted women. What makes this room so interesting in its own right is that despite his misogyny, he decorated the fireplace with Minton tiles, each featuring a scene with a female character from Shakespeare's plays.

American artist Elaine Reichek picks up on the theme in several embroidered panels on stands near the fireplace. She not only depicts passages from the bard's heroines, but also embroidered the panels with images created in Shakespeare's time. They create a special atmosphere in the room, a kind of female intrusion into the world of a man, who did not like women very much.

In the basement, as was the wont of 18th and 19th century homes, lie the kitchen, scullery and pantries. They are well furnished in this home and offer a trip into the past that any visitor should enjoy, and find of interest, regardless of sex. Here, in one of the pantries, artist Christy Thompson has created something quiet, yet remarkable in its effect. She has recreated bottles from the era of the house with resin and inserted lights into them. They appear to reflect the sun from the pantry window, infusing life into a very utilitarian room.

Josiah McElheny, another American, created special mirrors for the house. They hold a bit of a surprise for those who want to peek into them. Made of imperfect, flat glass, they have imbedded in them images that create a veil over the reflection of the viewer.

Canadian artist Elizabeth LeMoine, who makes her home in London, England, created miniature memories of objects, events and personalities that she recalls from growing up in Toronto in the 1960s and '70s. They are to be found throughout the house and must be looked for.

House Guests: Contemporary Artists in The Grange is on view until January 27, 2002.