We're thrilled to welcome you back safely to the Gardiner with new exhibitions, hands-on activities, studio classes, dining, shopping, and more. Please note that all visitors 12 and older must show proof of full vaccination. Plan your visit today!
Renaissance Venice was a multicultural metropolis at the intersection of trade routes linking Europe to the Islamic World, with pigments, spices, and luxury objects flowing through the city. Discover a sensory world of more than 110 objects, including Venetian ceramics and glass, Islamic metalware, and contemporary art. Plan your visit now!
Feeling stressed? In our four-week mindfulness workshops, registered art therapist Suzanne Thomson will show you a series of clay hand-building exercises to help you relax and reconnect with the present. The first class starts on October 28, so act fast!
Every object in our permanent collection can be accessed through our eMuseum portal. Learn about individual collecting areas, like Italian Maiolica or Modern and Contemporary Ceramics, or search the full collection by keyword. You'll be amazed by what you discover!
We need your support to continue to offer innovative and engaging exhibitions, programs, and community projects online, as well as plan for the future. Please consider making a donation to help us build community with clay.
As Canada’s national ceramics museum, the Gardiner Museum is dedicated to celebrating Canadian artists and their work.
The collection brings together work by ceramic artists from across the country from the 1950s to the present. The field of contemporary Canadian ceramics today is rich and varied. The current generation of ceramicists takes the medium in multiple directions. In their work, they show consciousness of history and popular culture, use the medium to tell stories, and borrow from industrial techniques such as transfer-printing and mould making. Clay is also used for sculpture and in multimedia work.
The Gardiner Museum’s holdings of contemporary Canadian ceramics were greatly enhanced by important gifts by Raphael Yu. It has been further enriched by works given by Léopold L. Foulem, Helen Gardiner, Aaron Milrad, Diana Reitberger, Brian Wilks, as well as from other donors. Many artists have also given works.
The Raphael Yu Centre of Canadian Ceramics was established as a virtual destination under which all activity related to Canadian Ceramic art is documented.
1. Greg Payce (b.1956), Apparently (detail), c.1999, Purchased with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program, G04.19.1; Gift of the Artist, G05.13.1. Photographer: Toni Hafkenscheid
2. Greg Payce (b.1956), Apparently (detail), c.1999, Purchased with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program, G04.19.1; Gift of the Artist, G05.13.1. Photographer: Toni Hafkenscheid
3. Adrian Saxe (b.1943), D'Nile (detail), C.2004, Gift of Helen Gardiner and Frank Lloyd, G05.8.1a-c
4. Gertraud Möhwald (1929-2002), Head with a Dim of Hair (detail), 2002, Gif of Alan Mandell, G14.6.1a-b