We've reopened exclusively to Gardiner Friends & Get Acquainted cardholders, and we'll reopen to the public with two days of free admission on July 11 and 12. Regular admission rates resume on July 13. We can't wait to welcome you back! Please read our new health and safety policies before you 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. It reopens to the public on July 11!
We're posting family-friendly art activities inspired by our collection and the endless possibilities of clay. Visit our Family Day page for weekly crafts, colouring pages, and more fun art projects that you can enjoy at home.
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.
Lobby Display
In 1862, two intrepid tourists, Viscount Milton and Dr. Walter Cheadle, undertook a two-year expedition across Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Travelling by ship, steamboat, stage coach, train, horse, canoe, and raft, they faced deep snow, swarms of mosquitoes, swollen rivers, starvation, and grizzly bears.
Milton and Cheadle published an illustrated account of their epic trip, The North West Passage by Land. Two bone china dessert services were specially ordered from the Minton manufactory to commemorate their adventures: one made for Dr. Cheadle in 1865, and the other for Lord Milton in 1867. Twenty-two illustrations from the book, taken from Cheadle’s drawings or watercolours, served as inspiration for the hand-painted scenes on the services.
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Canada’s confederation, thirteen pieces from Lord Milton’s magnificent service have been reassembled from public and private collections for this intimate lobby display.
Exhibition Programs & Events
September 22 – 26, 3 pm Screening: To Build a Fire French filmmaker Fx Goby’s animated adaptation of Jack London’s 1908 classic novel, To Build a Fire, depicts a trapper’s struggle for survival in the freezing temperatures of the Yukon in the late 1890s. Included with general admission. Learn more
Sunday September 23, 3 pm Artist Talk: FX Goby Join us for a moderated conversation with French filmmaker Fx Goby following a screening of his film To Build a Fire. Included with general admission. Learn more
Friday November 3, 4 pm Painted on Porcelain: A Canadian Odyssey Chief Curator Meredith Chilton recounts the story of Lord Milton and Dr. Cheadle’s incredible voyage and the history behind the Milton dessert services that commemorated their journey. Lear more
Image: Detail of an illustration from The North West Passage by Land