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. We look forward to welcoming you!
Enter a world at once familiar and uncanny. The exhibition hall has been transformed into an immersive reimagining of Montreal-based artist Karine Giboulo's home. Brought to life by over 500 miniature polymer clay figures, this is no ordinary house. The figures tell stories that reflect our most urgent social issues, from the pandemic and climate crisis to food insecurity and housing instability. Get tickets!
A new season of clay classes is open for registration! Sign up for stoneware, hand building, wheel throwing, and special exhibition courses. Winter is the perfect time to stay warm in the studio and learn a new skill. Register now!
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!
Limited time offer! Purchase or renew a Gardiner Friendship before January 1, 2023 and receive a free Get Acquainted pass (valued at $30) to gift to the art lover of your choice. Become a Gardiner Friend today!
A Response by Sook-Yin Lee to “Live Choreography: jes sachse & Alice Sheppard”
The last time I was at the Gardiner Museum was for my friend’s wedding She did a dramatic dance with her dad in the banquet hall A tango maybe, something with arm flourishes
I first met jes sachse five years ago, Dancing in the dark with their friends from Peterborough I was drunk. We were all drunk They kissed me on the lips
In the Gardiner Museum Surrounded by pottery from the Ancient Americas The DJ cranked tunes I thought about George and Helen Gardiner And their love of European ceramics I knew I could never be married I would not want to be stuck
The next time I saw jes I asked a lot of questions About accessibility And getting stuck on ramps With no one having your back Wanting to pee but you have to hold it in In the name of “art”
And then there was jes at the Gardiner Museum Live Choreography with Alice Sheppard In the same place where the wedding once was With chairs in a half-circle Grapes, dessert, and sushi I had no idea it would be so fancy jes laughed despite nerves
Their silhouettes against back-lit windows jes lying down, getting up, balancing on one foot Pulling Alice across the floor From the space where the wedding once was jes bolted towards the hard marble stairs Sliding down on a perfect ponytail Alice, hurtling head over wheels Is there anywhere that chair can’t go?
On a bench in the Gardiner Museum Alice and jes Touched each other With warm looks and knowing eyes Watching them We all wished for the same Intimacy
Sky turned charcoal and the wind blew On the ramp under-construction Outside the Gardiner Museum Where jes and Alice climbed, danced, and rolled
People stopped Some ran away Many apologized, not knowing what to do jes waved them through A burst of energy in Alice’s arms Hot on their heels She chased them to the other side
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Sook-Yin Lee is a filmmaker, musician, actor, artist, dance-maker, and three-time Gabriel Award-winning and New York Festival Gold-winning radio & TV broadcaster. This work was commissioned in support of jes sachse’s I wanna dance with some body, a Community Arts Space installation on view from August 1 – September 17. Community Arts Space is generously supported by TD Bank Group.