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.
Part of the Community Arts Space: What we long for Youth Project Co-presented by Art Starts and VIBE Arts
Session 1: 11:30 am – 12:15 pm Session 2: 1 – 1:45 pm
Join us for a hands-on self-care workshop facilitated by artist Igho Diana of Hair We Are. Attendees will learn how to make their very own body butter and hair care products using all-natural ingredients like shea butter, coconut oil, and essential oils.
Igho Diana is a poet, community educator, certified mediator, and mastermind of Ebony Girls Obsession. In her twenty-plus years of lived experience, she has come to believe that being Black and Woman is a lesson in resilience and grace. Thus, she dedicates her time documenting and sharing her experiences, as testimony, through her writing, performances, workshops, and events. Her chief aim is to equip young women with the discipline to take better care of themselves holistically, in order to show up boldly for their respective communities.
About Hair We Are
Led by artist Igho Diana, VIBE Arts creates a contemporary beauty salon that explores self-care and changing concepts of beauty. Reflecting on objects in the Gardiner’s collection of European ceramics made for the boudoir and female-only social spaces, the project challenges racialized girls and young women to use their lived experiences to re-think and re-contextualize historical objects as a means of bringing their own histories to the fore. Learn more
About Community Arts Space: What we long for
Grounded in the ability of clay to transform, the Community Arts Space is a platform for experimentation and socially-engaged art. Established in 2016, the project connects artists, makers, organizers, and residents through the creation of public projects that inspire social action. This year, the Gardiner is showcasing four public projects inspired by the theme “What we long for.” Learn more
VIBE Arts works collaboratively with children and youth in under-resourced communities to innovate, build skills and resiliency, and lead social change through arts education programming.
For 25 years, Art Starts programs have benefited thousands of people living in marginalized Toronto neighbourhoods by providing a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for self-expression and creative collaboration. They afford opportunities for vulnerable people of all ages to contribute to the creative ecology of their neighbourhoods, using the arts to help end the negative cycles associated with marginalization and poverty.