Gardiner Museum announces free weekends this summer
Providing the community with a safe and accessible space to reconnect
TORONTO—In response to the success of the Gardiner’s free opening weekend, the Museum will continue to offer free admission to the public every Saturday and Sunday throughout the summer. The Museum will be closed on Mondays.
“We’ve heard from our visitors, supporters, and partners, and their needs are clear,” says Kelvin Browne, Executive Director and CEO. “There’s a strong desire for safe social interactions and opportunities to engage with art. Now more than ever, the Gardiner can be an oasis in the city—a place to reflect and re-energize. We don’t want financial strain or a lack of available childcare options to prevent our publics from taking advantage of what we have to offer. We feel that it’s our responsibility to give back during this time to the communities that have supported and sustained us. We’re delighted to offer free weekend admission this summer as a token of gratitude and a sign of our commitment to accessibility.”
Visitors to the Museum can explore the permanent collection, including pottery representing 47 cultures from the modern day geographical areas of the American Southwest, Mexico, and Central and South America; a world-renowned collection of porcelain from Europe, China, and Japan; and contemporary ceramics by Canadian and international artists like Roger Aksadjuak, Shary Boyle, Kent Monkman, Virgil Ortiz, Fujikasa Satoko, Brendan Tang, and Annie Turner.
The special exhibition RAW is also on display, featuring large-scale installations by Cassils, Magdolene Dykstra, Azza El Siddique, and Linda Swanson. The show’s open layout offers ample space to explore and reflect, and its themes are particularly timely, ranging from trans visibility to the sustainability of human population growth. Magdolene Dykstra’s work Polyanthroponemia imagines humanity as a virus infecting the planet and visualizes the Earth’s immune system pushing into the galleries.
“Seeing, smelling, and feeling raw clay reminds us that we are here, we are alive, and that the physical world sustains us,” says Chief Curator Sequoia Miller, who organized the exhibition.
In addition to reuniting with favourite objects and discovering new works, visitors can enjoy a delicious summer menu on Clay Restaurant’s rooftop terraces overlooking Queen’s Park, and take part in family clay activities on the outdoor plaza every weekend. The Gardiner Shop is also open and showcasing work by local artists and makers.
The Museum has instituted new health and safety protocols that include limiting the number of people in the galleries, installing hand sanitizing stations on every floor, and frequently disinfecting high-touch surfaces.
Visit gardinermuseum.com for more information and to plan your visit.
ABOUT THE GARDINER MUSEUM
The Gardiner Museum brings together people of all ages and backgrounds through the shared values of creativity, wonder, and community that clay and ceramic traditions inspire.
The Gardiner Museum’s collection of ceramics comprises approximately 4,000 objects, and focuses on specific areas which have been collected in depth. These include a world-renowned collection of European porcelain, with particular strengths in Meissen, Vienna, and Hausmaler decorated porcelain, as well as a comprehensive collection of figures inspired by the commedia dell’arte. It holds the preeminent collection of Italian Renaissance maiolica in Canada, and a superb collection of English tin-glazed pottery. The Gardiner preserves highly significant collections of ceramics from the Ancient Americas, Chinese blue and white porcelain, Japanese porcelain, and contemporary Canadian ceramics. It also houses a research library and archives, clay studios, award-winning Shop, and a restaurant.
The Gardiner Museum is among the few museums in the world focused on ceramics, and is one of the world’s most notable specialty museums. For more information, please visit: gardinermuseum.com.
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Media Contact:
Rachel Weiner
Senior Manager, Marketing
Gardiner Museum
416.408.5062
[email protected]