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.
Until September 6, 2021
Free all summer!
We believe that a museum is more than a building—it’s a community.
This summer, the Gardiner is breaking down barriers and moving beyond traditional museum spaces to increase access. We’ve reimagined the Linda Frum & Howard Sokolowski Plaza and the Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney Community Clay Studio to create outdoor space for creativity and connection. Join us for pop-up window exhibitions, public art projects, family clay activities, outdoor dining, wellness workshops, performances, and more.
It’s time to rebuild and reconnect. And it starts with art. All summer. All free.
Discover art on the plaza
Audio Tour Discover pop-up window exhibitions, works of public art, special commissions by local artists, and more on the Linda Frum and Howard Sokolowski Plaza. Look for the labels with the audio guide symbol to access the tour right from your smart phone, or click here to listen now.
Portico Gallery Sponsored by Kim Spencer McPhee Barristers PC Civic Engagement Ceramics has long been a platform for expressing civic identity. The historical and contemporary works on view in this mini exhibition complement the Museum’s public art project with No.9, an arts organization that uses art and design to bring awareness to environmental concerns. Each of the objects represents a form of civic engagement through the medium of clay, including works by Jeannot Blackburn, Jack Earl, and Walter Ostrom, as well as examples of 17th-century English and Chinese pottery.
Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney Window Gallery Habiba El-Sayed: Fragile Plane This mini exhibition by Toronto-based artist Habiba El-Sayed features works of layered acrylic and clay that symbolize how computer and mobile phone screens, which have served as the only medium of contact for many over the last year, both unite and separate us. The shapes draw from traditional Egyptian water jars, flattened as if appearing on a screen, while also holding the material of raw clay, or earth.
Dine at Clay Restaurant
Make a reservation
Wednesday – Friday: 11 am – 4 pm Saturday: Closed Sunday: 10 am – 4 pm
Enjoy lunch among the art. Snack on confit chicken baos, smash burgers, fresh pasta, house-made donuts, and more at Clay Restaurant, including our outdoor terraces overlooking Queen’s Park. Check out our new summer menu
You can also order takeout right to the plaza! Look for more details on site or visit clay.restaurant.
Create with clay
Join us on the plaza for free outdoor family clay workshops, Wednesday – Sunday. Outdoor activities are offered on a first-come, first-served basis and will be moved indoors in the event of rain or inclement weather. Click here to see the full schedule of events.
Clay Bird Making Sponsored by David Staines & Noreen Taylor Wednesday – Friday from 1 – 3:30 pm Take part in a drop-in clay bird making activity on the Gardiner Plaza, part of artist David Constantino Salazar’s project Forever (Bird-Botanicals). Open to adults and children.
Family Days Sponsored by Mary Janigan & Tom Kierans Sundays from 11 am – 3 pm Get the family together for outdoor art-making on the Gardiner Plaza, with new activities and themes each week.
Play Date Sponsored by Weston Family Foundation Wednesday – Saturday from 10 am – 12 pm Join us on the Gardiner Plaza for a kid-friendly colouring activity inspired by our collaboration with No.9 Contemporary Art + Environment.
Engage online
In addition to our onsite events, we’ll continue to offer free digital programs.
Our sponsors
Thank you to our visionary sponsors for helping us build community with clay.
Presenting Partners David Staines & Noreen Taylor Kim Spencer McPhee Barristers PC Mary Janigan & Tom Kierans
Supporting Partners Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney Linda Frum & Howard Sokolowski Weston Family Foundation
Thanks To The Citrine Foundation HUB International Margaret McCain Andre Morriseau Rosemary Phelan Diana Reitberger