The Gardiner Museum is open seven days a week. Explore our permanent collection, discover special exhibitions, get hands-on with clay in our studios, dine, shop, and more.
Enter an immersive world created by Montreal-based artist Karine Giboulo, brought to life by over 500 miniature polymer clay figures that tell stories about our most urgent social issues, from the pandemic to the climate crisis. It will delight visitors of all ages!
Spring Clay Classes are open for registration and filling up fast! Secure one of the remaining spots and get creative with clay in our studios this season.
Experience the Gardiner's world-renowned collection, in person and online. From Chinese porcelain to contemporary Canadian ceramics, discover the people and histories behind the objects.
Everyone can love clay! Become a Gardiner Friend and enjoy the benefits, including unlimited admission, advanced clay class registration, invitations to exhibition previews and special events, discounts on lectures and classes, and more.
Part of the Community Arts Space: What we long for Youth Project Co-presented by Art Starts and VIBE Arts
Beauty salons and barbershops have long served as important sites in the Black community. They provide far more than hair care, acting as safe spaces for people to exchange stories and build strong bonds. Led by artist Igho Diana of VIBE Arts, youth from Art Starts create an exhibition in the form of a contemporary beauty salon that explores self-care and changing concepts of beauty.
Hair We Are reflects 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. It features a series of self-care, hair care, and storytelling workshops with young women at Art Starts’ main hub in Yorkdale Shopping Centre, culminating in an exhibition at the Gardiner.
Programming
July 11, 6 – 8 pm Hair We Are Launch Mingle with the artists and collaborators, and enjoy music, youth artist-led tours, and refreshments.
July 14, 11:30 am – 1:45 pm Family Sunday: Self-Care Rituals Join us for a hands-on self-care workshop and learn how to make your very own body butter and hair care products.
About VIBE Arts
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.
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
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.