Gardiner Museum: Request for Proposals for the Community Arts Space 2018
Application Deadline: December 1, 2017 at 5 pm
Exhibition Dates: Summer 2018
Information Session: November 15, 2017 from 2 - 4 pm
Since the summer of 2016, the Gardiner Museum’s Community Arts Space has acted as an incubator for arts-based community projects. Inspired by the transformative aspects of ceramics, both real and metaphorical, the Community Arts Space initiates dialogue and the hands-on creation of equitable and inclusive cultural initiatives that engage and give voice to local communities.
The Gardiner’s 307-square-metre third-floor special exhibition hall and outdoor plaza are open to proposals for the summer of 2018 from July 3 to August 31. We’re inviting applications from cultural and community organizations, collectives, presenters, artists, curators, designers, makers, architects, organizers, and producers that outline what they would do in the space that relates to our Community Arts Space theme over a two-week period.
The possibilities are endless—dance, music or theatre performances, workshops, community arts outreach, installations, performance art—our space is yours for the taking!
Theme: Recent Histories
Ceramics have played an important role in our understanding of cultures throughout history. From a ritual Maya plate to a souvenir coffee mug, these domestic clay objects reveal both our public and private daily rituals: how we eat, drink, celebrate, and experience place. As a public institution, the Gardiner is keenly aware of our responsibility to be an active force in the community and truly reflect the histories, lived experiences, and traditions of our publics. What then is the role of a museum in cultivating the so-called lived and living memory? How is cultural knowledge passed on or performed? Within certain marginalized communities, how are these histories preserved and communicated across generations?
The Gardiner has a podium and we want you to use it.
Community Partners:
This year, we have partnered with The 519 and Akin Collective, who will be involved in the selection process and will offer off-site workspace, free studio time, and other resources toward the shaping and delivery of specific projects.
About the Gardiner Museum:
The Gardiner Museum is a vital cultural institution and an innovator within Toronto’s cultural landscape. The Gardiner celebrates the creativity of clay and the beauty that ceramics bring into our lives in so many ways. Clay is real, remarkable, and relevant in today’s society.
The Museum has collections of international importance, including but not limited to objects from the Ancient Americas, eighteenth-century European porcelain, and contemporary ceramics, particularly the work of great Canadian artists.
The Gardiner is an institution rooted in its community, which helps artists take risks and inspires diverse audiences through clay.