[5] While there, McKay helped organize a series of Emma Lake Artists' Workshops in rural Saskatchewan.
McKay received national and international attention as one of the painting group the Regina Five.
[8] The group's paintings were exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada in 1961 in a show titled "Five Painters from Regina".
[11] McKay's best known works are his scraped enamel circular and rectangular "mandalas", in which he uses relaxing, contemplative imagery to depict ideas related to Zen Buddhism.
In 1997, the MacKenzie Art Gallery mounted a national travelling exhibition, "Arthur F. McKay: A Critical Retrospective".