Plan your visit to CLAY, offering a seasonal menu of fresh local fare in one of the city's most beautiful spaces. Try our newly-launched spring menu today!
Ai Weiwei is one of the world’s most influential artists and human rights activists, and one of China’s most formidable critics. Ai Weiwei: Unbroken features a selection of the artist's most iconic ceramics, and marks the international debut of new work. See it before it closes on June 9!
SMASH: Nourish is a night of bold artwork, delicious cuisine, refreshing drinks, and invigorating experiences. The Gardiner Museum Young Patron Circle's annual art party sold out last year, so get your tickets early!
The Gardiner Museum is among the few museums in the world focused on ceramics, and is one of the most important specialty museums internationally. It houses approximately 4,000 objects, including European porcelain, ceramics from the Ancient Americas, Chinese porcelain, Japanese porcelain, and contemporary ceramics. Search the collection online!
Everyone can love clay! Become a Friend at one of the world’s great specialty museums and enjoy the benefits, including unlimited admission, invitations to exhibition previews and special events, discounts on lectures and clay classes, and more.
A collaborative project coordinated by the Gardiner Museum and funded by the US Consulate General of Toronto, this exhibition features works by students in the Sheridan College Ceramics Program and in both the Bead & Read Group and Indigenous Visual Culture Program at OCAD University.
For a week in November, students from both institutions worked with two artists from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Sante Fe, New Mexico—Joanna Bigfeather and Jim Rivera. Through these workshops, the students were able to explore the commonalities and differences between Indigenous visual arts practices in Canada and the United States, taking inspiration from Kent Monkman’s latest exhibition, The Rise and Fall of Civilization. Cultural exchange is a powerful tool for addressing difficult or traumatic portions of our collective history, and Kent Monkman’s installation acted as a catalyst for a rich dialogue on shared history, identity, and artistic expression.
About the Artists
Joanna Bigfeather
Joanna Bigfeather is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Her work as an artist, curator, and human rights activist reflects the historical treatment of Native Americans by the United States. Her education at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Native American history, art and culture provided a foundation for her studies at the University of California Santa Cruz where she attained her Bachelor of Fine Arts. After receiving her MFA from the State University of New York, Albany, she became the Director/Curator at the American Community House Gallery/Museum in New York City, and in 1999, she became director of the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Joanna’s own work has won awards in ceramic sculpture and pottery, and can be seen in collections including the Smithsonian Institution, Heard Museum, Brooklyn Museum, and the Institute of American Indian Art Museum. She has authored numerous catalogs and articles, has served as a fine arts juror for a variety of organizations.
She currently teaches ceramics and writing about art at the Institution of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe New Mexico.
Jim Rivera
Jim Rivera (Siikioso), is Yoeme, (Pascua Yaqui) from Tucson, Arizona. He is an alumnus of the Institute of American Indian Arts (AFA), San Francisco Art Institute (BFA) and the Vermont College of Fine Arts (MFA). Jim has worked at IAIA for the past 18 years in various positions. Currently he is Visiting Assistant Professor in Studio Arts. Jim’s artwork consists of Painting, Ceramics, Installations, Found Objects, and Drawing.