We've reopened with modified summer hours and free admission on weekends! There's plenty of space to reconnect and amazing art to discover in all corners of the Museum. Please read our new health and safety policies before your visit.
From sticky to crusty, pliable to powdery, and shaped to shapeless, clay’s ability to transform in real time is prompting a new generation of artists to explore the possibilities of this ancient material. RAW features new work by four artists who are pushing boundaries with unfired clay: Cassils, Magdolene Dykstra, Azza El Siddique, and Linda Swanson. See it now!
We're excited to introduce Clay Date, a new online art fundraiser in support of the Gardiner Museum and inspired by the special exhibition RAW. Presented by the Young Patron Circle's SMASH Committee, Clay Date will virtually unite a community of art enthusiasts and cultural philanthropists for an evening with artist Habiba El-Sayed.
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!
As we begin to welcome visitors back to the Gardiner, we need your support to continue offering innovative and engaging exhibitions, programs, and community projects on site and online. Make a donation and help us build community with clay.
The Gardiner Museum established The Raphael Yu Centre of Canadian Ceramics to acknowledge the generosity of Raphael Yu. Mr. Yu donated an extraordinary collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics to the Gardiner, and he has made a planned gift to create an endowment which will allow the Gardiner to collect Canadian ceramics and create programs that celebrate this material in perpetuity.
The Raphael Yu Center of Canadian Ceramics is a virtual destination at the Gardiner Museum and the rubric under which all activity related to Canadian ceramic art are organized. The core activities of the Yu Centre include the collection, research, publication, and exhibition of Canadian ceramics, as well as programs that feature Canadian artists and their work.
Research & Collections
The Gardiner Museum’s collection of Canadian ceramics is available to interested artists, curators, students, scholars, and others via the Museum’s collections database. This database includes current research on all objects in the Museum’s collection. View the collection
Publications
The Gardiner Museum celebrates and documents its exhibitions and permanent collections by publishing scholarly and beautifully illustrated catalogues. These publications are available in the Gardiner Shop. Digital publications featuring Canadian ceramics will be made available through The Raphael Yu Centre for Canadian Ceramics. Browse publications
Exhibitions
The Gardiner Museum strives to present original, provocative, and visually arresting exhibitions that capture the public imagination and showcase Canadian artists and their work. The Museum maintains an archive of past exhibitions on its website, and all exhibitions featuring Canadian ceramics are available through The Raphael Yu Centre of Canadian Ceramics.
Programs
The Gardiner Museum offers a stimulating program schedule to enrich and further engage its community. All programs are promoted on the Museum’s website. Programs featuring Canadian ceramic artists and/or their work are documented and archived through The Raphael Yu Centre for Canadian ceramics.
Header image: Bruce Cochrane, White Casserole with Red Glazes, 1998, porcelain, soda-fired, The Raphael Yu Collection, G11.6.19a-b