Like many of you, we have been closely following the developments of COVID-19. The safety of our visitors, campers, staff, and volunteers is our top priority. Upon the advice of Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, the Gardiner Museum will close temporarily effective Saturday March 14, 2020. We will continue to take guidance from our public health officials regarding the duration of the closure and will post updates to our website and social media channels as they become available. We are grateful for your support and thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to navigate this challenging time. We look forward to welcoming you back to the Gardiner soon.
The starting dates of our Spring Clay Classes will be delayed. Rest assured that no cancellation penalties will go into effect before the revised dates have been announced. We are working to develop a new schedule as quickly as possible and appreciate your understanding.
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!
Support the Gardiner's mission to champion clay, build community, and promote arts education. All of our memberships include a full year of free admission to the Museum, as well as discounts at CLAY Restaurant and the Gardiner Shop, and start and at just $30!
We have an exciting new school program focused on narrative storytelling. Your students will learn about the community of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut in the 1960s and 70s when a cultural revolution was taking place. Long renowned for their stone and bone carvings, the Inuit peoples of Nunavut began working with a unique art form—ceramic low-relief and figurative sculptures. Today, after a century of displacement, pottery has helped revitalize the Inuit culture and way of life, creating a new artistic language based on imagery, symbolism, and narration. Students will explore the Gardiner’s collection of Rankin Inlet Inuit ceramics, and learn to tell their own stories with clay.
Upon request, high school groups registering for the full day program can choose between two studio options at the time of booking: low-relief storytelling or creating a collective piece alongside our potters.
Students will have a discussion in the galleries, followed by a hands-on project in the studio.
Students will have an opportunity to learn about about the community of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut in the 1960s and 70s through activities, scavenger hunts and audio-visual presentations. In the afternoon students will participate in a hands-on project.
Program Details
* Optional $3 kiln firing fee. Firing takes 10 to 14 business days. Please add a $5 processing fee per group. ** Registration required, please fill out the form by clicking “Book a Visit” button below.
Book a Visit
1. Shaman’s Head (II), 2006, Gift of the Museum of Inuit Art G16.13.8
2. Seated Drummer, Tala-Tonalá style Mexico, Jalisco 300 B.C. - A.D. 200 Earthenware with white on red slip paint Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.56
3. The Monkey Orchestra Germany, Meissen, c. 1753–75 Hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels, gilding Modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706–1775) and Peter Reinicke (1711–1768) Mark: Crossed swords in underglaze blue Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.675