Like many of you, we have been closely following the developments of COVID-19. The safety of our visitors, campers, staff, and volunteers is our top priority. Upon the advice of Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, the Gardiner Museum will close temporarily effective Saturday March 14, 2020. We will continue to take guidance from our public health officials regarding the duration of the closure and will post updates to our website and social media channels as they become available. We are grateful for your support and thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to navigate this challenging time. We look forward to welcoming you back to the Gardiner soon.
The starting dates of our Spring Clay Classes will be delayed. Rest assured that no cancellation penalties will go into effect before the revised dates have been announced. We are working to develop a new schedule as quickly as possible and appreciate your understanding.
The Gardiner Museum is among the few museums in the world focused on ceramics, and is one of the most important specialty museums internationally. It houses approximately 4,000 objects, including European porcelain, ceramics from the Ancient Americas, Chinese porcelain, Japanese porcelain, and contemporary ceramics. Search the collection online!
Support the Gardiner's mission to champion clay, build community, and promote arts education. All of our memberships include a full year of free admission to the Museum, as well as discounts at CLAY Restaurant and the Gardiner Shop, and start and at just $30!
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