Wednesday February 25, 2026
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Community Learning Centre. Ground Floor
Free. No registration required

Join us for the opening of Stories in Clay, featuring artworks by members of YWCA Toronto’s Inspirations Studio, made in a series of workshops with visiting artists Japneet Kaur, Zoë Pinnell, and Nurielle Stern.

There will be a cash bar and complimentary snacks.

Stories in Clay
February 21 – March 8

Stories in Clay features ceramics by members of YWCA Toronto’s Inspirations Studio, a unique low-barrier ceramics program for women and gender diverse people who have experienced the impacts of poverty, homelessness, and housing instability. Studio members made the works on display through a series of workshops led by local ceramic artists Japneet Kaur, Zoë Pinnell, and Nurielle Stern. In the workshops, each artist shared their particular approach, which the participants adapted to their own ways of making. The series sought to strengthen technical skills, broaden conceptual strategies, and build professional networks.

For many Inspirations Studio members, intersecting systemic barriers and the lack of accessible art spaces in the GTA have hindered opportunities for artistic growth. This workshop series aimed to address this imbalance. Presenting the resulting artworks at the Gardiner Museum highlights the work of Inspirations Studio and its members, while offering space for new narratives to emerge.

About Inspirations Studios

Inspirations Studio was founded in 1994 to provide studio access, storefront selling opportunities, arts education, and professional training opportunities to women who have experienced multiple forms of discrimination. The Studio’s core mission is to contribute to improving women’s lives through the making and selling of pottery. Through creative, therapeutic, and skill-building work, women gain self-confidence and stability while connecting to community. Studio members also gain a source of supplemental income and find a new way to engage with the world as makers. Art—and ceramics in particular—can bring change and offer healing, while giving people purpose, pride, passion, and joy. Inspirations Studio workshop and storefront space is located at 389 Church St, on the main floor of YWCA Toronto’s supportive housing building.
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