Reviews of Gardiner Museum (Event Planner)

Alberto Nicanor Rosario Mendez

The Gardiner Museum is a hidden gem in the city of Toronto. It has a collection of pottery, sculptures and other ceramics, spanning different places and times. It's not as big as the ROM across the street, but it is very interesting and definitely worth a visit.

yu chen

The space is modern and well kept but small. The area available for receptions is also small and good for groups of around 50 people (give or take 10). Prices are very high here for both meals and venue space rental. No available parking included for events or otherwise.

Jeanette Tracy

The Gardiner Museum is finally getting the recognition that it deserves in Toronto's Art Community. Small but mighty ???? Be sure to put it on this Summer's Bucket List ????

C Chow

Makes ceramics interesting even if you don’t know much about the subject. The contemporary section is intellectually challenging in a good way. Pre-Colombian ceramics are incredibly moving. The rest is, if less surprising, first class quality.

Anita Windisman

A terrific museum, a definite "must visit" for all interested in history of art and trade, as well as global cultures. Great exhibitions, truly nice narration of the pieces, and well-designed thought-through floor planning. The Maya and Aztec collections located on the first floor are unparalleled, and could not be found elsewhere in Toronto. The third floor presents exciting European gallery (as of Nov-Dec 2021, dedicated to Renaissance Venice) with not only earthenware and porcelain, but with various carpentry, toiletries, paintings and city artefacts. Only wish the museum had more convenient visiting hours, since now they are almost exclusively overlapped with most of working adults' business hours.

Bo Shiun

Visited today especially for the Ai Weiwei exhibit. Loved this bright and airy museum that houses just ceramics. Has a coffee shop on site with a good view, and a workshop in the basement. They occasionally offer free admittance like today, which kicked off the start of March break. Worth a visit. Parents: I wouldn't suggest this place for kids under 10. They will be bored.

Alexa Nicole xo.

I have been meaning to check this museum out for awhile. We were only there for a couple of hours but it was a fascinating experience. From the central and mesoamerica pottery on the first floor to the detailed history and evolution of European porcelain on the second floor. I may return to try out some of the hands on workshops another time as well.

Jean-Paul Audouy

Nice ???? ???????? museum It's free on weekends

TOMA MORIN

The museum was very interesting, it had many interesting sculptures in it. It also had lots of different pieces of ceramics in it, Don't let the size of the building its located in fool you on how packed it is. The only reason I gave it a four star insted of a five is because I felt that the price of adult admission was a bit to expensive. Admission for people aged 18 and under was for free, which was nice though.

Gazalle Ardekani

Really nice museum but they have a plaque saying they are trying to be less racist. I don't like the virtue signaling. Either give their works of art or proceeds back to victims or stop with the empty talk wokeism

Philip Edmondson

Great collection. Friday is half price!!

Andrew Tulloch

Nice museum displaying items from different era and parts of the world.

Rebecca Rivera

A very diverse collection from different time periods and cultures. Modern and ancient. A great place to have a quick visit.

Lisa Kim

I always feel so invigorated and inspired when I leave the Gardiner Museum. The museum has items on three floors, ranging from a wonderful collection of Central/South American pieces to 20th century modern pieces. The restaurant food is yummy, a bit pricey but the food is delicious. Best tip: The drop in classes on Friday and Saturday are both really popular, see their site for details. The sign up system should be going online by end of 2016, I heard (not a moment too soon!) But a great deal to see if you want to see if you're interested before signing up for an actual session. My son and I feel in love with potting with the wheel - so much fun.

Annie Dy Xu

A nice, small, polished, meticulous museum for all age groups! If you love ceramics, you'd definitely enjoy a visit to Gardiner Museum. Went with my significant other two weeks ago and learned a lot about the evolution of ceramics over the past few centuries. Take advantage of its free admission over the summer when offered.

6 Kat

Small, well kept museum, beautiful porcelain & ceramics collections and interesting sculptures. Informative and polite tour guides. Good opportunities for special exhibitions and events. When you leave this place, you’ll be very inspired. Worth visiting for sure, especially for art lovers in general and ceramic art fans in particular. Parking could be challenging.

Érika O.

I understand now why other reviewers have called this a hidden gem. I visited the museum on one of their culture days event. The historical pieces are very interesting and you get good bits of history alongside them. I found the design of the museum to be very modern and new age. They have gender neutral washrooms. So much of it is what you expect in a public museum these days. The clay restaurant has great aesthetic and eats, it’s a good break if you get hungry, you don’t have to leave the venue. The gift shop had some work from current artists that was very interesting to me. All in all, I learned a lot and I will be coming back for more. Perhaps one of their clay workshops! They currently also have a moving piece on the murdered and missing indigenous women.

Saad Qasim

I came to the museum for the Ai Weiwei exhibit and because it was during their birthday weekend we got to enter for free. There was quite a long line but it was expected because the entrance was free. I was told that the exhibit is short and with few pieces but I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. There were a variety of pieces that would speak to different types of art lovers. The museum also made sure to provide art experts to explain all of Ai’s pieces which added quite a lot more substance. The other floors also had quite a few ceramics and pieces that had great history but of course the main draw was the Ai Weiwei exhibit. I also made plans w friends to come back and enjoy the cafe as it looks very nice and quite an experience in itself.

Liam Winegard

A truly unique museum where you can learn about the history of ceramics. Not sure how well known the upstairs restaurant is but food looks amazing. You can also book a wedding here. A nice quiet place to go if you are in the area and have about an hour to spare. Cute gift shop in front! P.s. can you please "like" this so I can become a Master Reviewer?

Sara Fung

Amazing! I can not praise this museum enough! The collections were gorgeous and the visiting shows fascinating! I know I am late to review but Yoko Ono's Riverbed was the best show I saw in 2018! I implore everyone to visit! The gift shop was also fantastic!

Jeremy Block

Interesting museum. Good for family evening or weekend destination. Not as huge as ROM, so you won't be tired after it. The museum has many interesting thematic exibitions. If you are tired you have an opportunity to have a rest and eat something in the cafe on top floor with amaizing street view.

Trevor Prosser

Nice small museum located not far from the ROM. Went on a friday after 4pm and admission is 50% off 4-9 pm on fridays which is a bonus. Although small it takes time as lots of beautiful things to look at and read about. Was not crowed and was able to take our time at a relaxed pace.

John Sutton

A fantastic ceramics collection, very accessibly presented for all age groups. The tour guide was very insightful, informative and engaging. Friday late afternoon into evenings are also half price admission.

Charlotte Elder

Great place to visit and teach kids and adults about clay history

Michael Gfroerer

great museum but they're terrified of copyright infringement. they OK non-flash photography but 98% of the items are behind glass!! in the whole place, there were two exhibits NOT behind glass. it's like watching television.

Mohammad Alsaedi

Set back from the street, quiet in it's refined facade, this is a museum often passed over and missed. It's well worth a visit. It takes us on a truncated and general tour of ceramics which is interesting, and shows some exceptional examples. For a couple of hours of stimulating respite from the city, this is a perfect choice. **There is a terrific restaurant for a light bright fresh lunch on the upper floor with grand views over the street and the ROM at good prices. It's light-filled space with a vaulted ceiling is relaxing and one of the best off-the-beaten path dining rooms you'll find. Enjoy!!

Christine Custodio

Always a treat to visit this museum. The 3rd floor usually has contemporary interesting exhibit, last year Yoko Ono and now Ai WeiWei. Closing soon....

Asna S.

Small intimate museum with great collection of ceramics and wonderful exhibitions. Visited it several times and always had a great experience. If you are an art lover, it should be on your to do list.

sunny days

Great smaller gallery with a focus on ceramics. Never too busy and staff is always friendly. The special exhibitions are always great, showcasing art from internationally recognized artists.

Natalia Ourban

Our first time visiting this museum. It's free admission at present, only 2 floors open. Very nice inside, however it is nothing special. Restaurant looks nice but it's not open.

Jason Redden

Went to see the True Nordic exhibit, which was smaller than I expected but still full of great information and wonderful pieces, both original and contemporary. The rest of the museum is a treasure trove of pottery, and definitely worth the visit!

Denis Samoylov

I enjoyed the porcelain collection. As well as atmosphere inside, lovely cafe, gift shop and a bird clay experience!))

Mark Bullock

Drop-in pottery sessions (when they were available) were great. Lots of people though so need to book early.

Margarita Koroleva

Honestly, this is a wonderful place to visit if you want to spend a few hours diving into ceramics. It's not loud and crowded like the ROM or AGO, and offers you a peaceful space to closely observe these premodern and modern works. The collections are well curated, and it offers you an truly engaging experience with classical music in the background as well. Definitely one of my favourite places in Toronto now!

Robin Kang

Always a fantastic place to learn more about pottery, ceramics and clay making. The facilities are top notch and so are the exhibits

David Bach

Drop in classes tickets are not sold fairly. Online ticketing is flawed/rigged. Tried on multiple occasions. Countdown goes to 0 at 10am and the page already shows tickets as sold out.

Anna S

Amazing ceramics collection! Classes and drop-in times are offered here with highly qualified teachers for people who want to try. Beautiful gift-shop and excellent lecturers.

Karishma Sinha

From the moment you enter this museum a feeling of calm falls over you.

Hanna

Good collection of clay art and porcelain from around the world. Civilizations including South American, North American, Asian and European were included on the first two floors. We didn’t visit the other fours or the basement, since they weren’t open to the public on Wednesdays.

RSH DVP

Lots of great ceramic pieces. A diversion from the bigger museums.

Vartan Ghazarian

I stopped in here on a whim while I was visiting Toronto. It's a cool little museum dedicated to the ceramic arts ranging from ancient indigenous American pottery to the modern. Unfortunately, they did not have a special exhibit going on while I was there, but there was plenty of things to see in permanent exhibits. Definitely worth checking out if you have a few hours to spare.

zazi neg

Canada's National ceramics museum. Three floors of very interesting and beautiful ceramics and porcelain that's not just plates and cups!

Queena Huang

A complete day of fun! So much to see here. Take a day for it and take it slow. Worth it!

The Prince of Acre

This place was awesome. Beautiful porcelain & ceramics collections. Great experience. Atmosphere was good.

Sue Hodgson

Never been inside, but the head statue outside is my favourite art piece in the city ????

S Hanson

The Venetian exhibit was beautiful and lunch there was a delightful treat in their big airy dining room.

T Vollmer

The family loved it...we got an opportunity to make things with Clay. And the museum had 3 floors and there was also a scavenger hunt for kids to keep them entertained.

Harry Bradley

A calm environment with historical, artistic and cultural exhibits. Relaxing music while you learn and discover.

Mohamed Saleh

A wonderful well displayed exhibition of Venetian glass and ceramic from the 15th and 16th century.

Rich

A fascinating museum, in a convenient downtown location, that gets limited attention in our big city. Great to see the ancient art especially. Kind of a small museum, and they were changing collections this week so even less was open, but still well worth a visit!

R L

It’s not about the location, as much as it’s about the people. The energy of professionals having a purpose and tasks to accomplish makes a fundraiser a success. As always a sprint plan, schedules as well as teams being told what is expected differentiates an agile team from a not agile - youth volunteer team. Successful fundraiser. The location is art friendly. There is a prayer room for Jews, and other religions. The place accommodates people from various backgrounds.

Carol Schell

Really good museum. When I was visiting the admission was free as well!

Cassandra Griffin

If you are interested in pottery, china etc, this is the place to be, the exhibits are interesting and you can easily spend several hours here. There is a restaurant upstairs but did look quite expensive. You can purchase a combined ticket for the Bata Shoe Museum and Textile Museum for $20.

Nataliya V

Great museum. Once again fascinating how someone’s passion created such a beauty. Probably museum is more interesting for adults, than kids. But check online for their activities. We enjoyed family day clay master-class. If you wish you could take a rest in their restaurant located on the third floor. It has beautiful view to ROM. The staff is super friendly and nice! We’ve enjoyed our stay!

John Cher

Pottery classes were fun and easy Edit: we came back to paint our pieces 2 weeks after.

Simon-Peter Daley

The museum itself is kind of lacklustre. Some interesting pieces, but nothing grandiose. The best is the drop in programs. I did a clay making class and it was so much fun and the instructor was really helpful. I'd go again if only for that.

Mariam Yousuf

The special exhibit with Ai Weiwei was excellent. Particularly the gallery where they put three replicas he had made. A fun museum that isn’t terribly long to work your way through and it’s very modestly priced. Well worth stopping in. The third floor cafe is gorgeous!

Daniel Botsko

We had a good experience with the family event being held on Sundays. The art exhibition is really interesting. We found the Clay restaurant a bit expensive (good doughnut though).

coco gen

Honestly, I love the Gardiner Museum because it has an amazing collection including Ancient Olmec (pre-Mayan Central America), 13th Century Chinese porcelain, stunning Renaissance Italian masterpieces to Modern Canadian works. The mood at the Gardiner is just so quiet and pleasant, even on a weekday evening. The Gardiner Museum of Ceramics is like a quiet secret, that takes us to the greatest art from around the world, through time in a city which is often too loud and often ugly.