August 1 – 16, 2026
Community Learning Centre. Ground Floor
Included with admission. Free for Gardiner Friends.

Community Arts Space 2026

Established in 2016, Community Arts Space (CAS) is a series of collaborations with community partners and local artists, rooted in the real and metaphorical ability of clay to transform. The initiative builds on the Gardiner Museum’s long-standing commitment to working both within and beyond our gallery walls, using clay to connect people and reimagine the roles and responsibilities of a museum in its communities.

The 2026 CAS programs are unified by the theme “Common Ground”, referring to the shared space—both physical and cultural—where diverse communities come together in dialogue, expression, and mutual respect. The medium of clay, central to these workshops, embodies this theme by engaging participants with a material that is both universal and deeply tied to cultural traditions.

This year’s featured summer presentation is a partnership with the Arab Community Centre of Toronto (ACCT). Led by Egyptian Canadian artist Habiba El-Sayed, Clay Circles was a transformative ceramic arts program that invited newcomer, refugee, and racialized youth to explore themes of identity, migration, and belonging.

Using clay as a powerful, tactile medium for storytelling, participants learned ceramic techniques while shaping personal and collective narratives into meaningful works of art, on display in the Community Learning Centre.

Free Public Celebration
Wednesday August 5, 6:00 pm

Come celebrate the participants and discover the exhibition during Free Wednesday Night.

Participants

Lydia Abdallat, Samira Ahmed, Hinad Alshuhuf, Maryama Hussein, Sami Ibrahim, Safiyyah Memon, Faisa Mohamed, Salma Mohamed, Wasifa Noshin, Wajiah Sandhu

Facilitator

Habiba El-Sayed