We've reopened with modified summer hours and free admission on weekends! There's plenty of space to reconnect and amazing art to discover in all corners of the Museum. Please read our new health and safety policies before your visit.
From sticky to crusty, pliable to powdery, and shaped to shapeless, clay’s ability to transform in real time is prompting a new generation of artists to explore the possibilities of this ancient material. RAW features new work by four artists who are pushing boundaries with unfired clay: Cassils, Magdolene Dykstra, Azza El Siddique, and Linda Swanson. See it now!
We're excited to introduce Clay Date, a new online art fundraiser in support of the Gardiner Museum and inspired by the special exhibition RAW. Presented by the Young Patron Circle's SMASH Committee, Clay Date will virtually unite a community of art enthusiasts and cultural philanthropists for an evening with artist Habiba El-Sayed.
Every object in our permanent collection can be accessed through our eMuseum portal. Learn about individual collecting areas, like Italian Maiolica or Modern and Contemporary Ceramics, or search the full collection by keyword. You'll be amazed by what you discover!
As we begin to welcome visitors back to the Gardiner, we need your support to continue offering innovative and engaging exhibitions, programs, and community projects on site and online. Make a donation and help us build community with clay.
Bring your students to the Gardiner Museum for a trip that they’ll be talking about for weeks!
From painted Chinese dragons to Inuit carvings, a trip to the Gardiner Museum combines world history and discovery with a hands-on clay project. The Museum’s award-winning curriculum-based programs are accessible to students from kindergarten through to university.
All themes can be matched to fit any of these curricula: Visual Arts, Social Studies, Indigenous Studies, Animals, Environment, Language, and more. Just ask us!
Full day program Grade 3 – 8: 2-hour morning session, 30-minute lunch break, 1.5-hour clay workshop Grade 9+: 1.5-hour morning session, 1-hour lunch break, 1.5-hour clay workshop
Half day program (No lunch space available) JK – Grade 1: 15-minute tour followed by 1.25-hour clay workshop Grade 2+: 30-minutes tour followed by 1.5-hour clay workshop
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
4. Dish with Five-Clawed Dragon China, Jingdezhen, Qing dynasty, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722) Hard-paste porcelain with underglaze blue The Robert Murray Bell and Ann Walker Bell Collection of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, G99.10.9
5. Rabbit Tureen (detail), England, London, Chelsea, c.1755-1756, Purchased with a gift from Dr. Walter S. Bloom and Carol Bloom Koffler in memory of their mother, Adele S. Bloom, a collector and connoisseur of English porcelain; with a grant from the Government of Canada, Ministry of Communications under the terms of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act and with the assistance of the Tecolote Foundation
6. Peter Pincus, Trio of Vessels V, 2017. Gift of Diana Reitberger.
7. Dish with scene from the story of Icarus Italy, Urbino and Gubbio, c. 1530 Painted by Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo (c. 1500 – after 1542); lustred in the workshop of Maestro Giorgio Andreoli (c. 1465/70-c. 1553) Tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), with metallic lustre Inscription on reverse: fran: Avello R : pt: / Dedalo co’l figlical’ T Aeve / à nolo. / fabula y (fran: Avello R: painted this:/ The fable of Daedalus with his son in the air) Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.362
8. The Greeting Harlequin (detail), Germany, Meissen, c.1740, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.908
9. Demo pieces from the Studio