Submission Deadline: December 16, 2020, 5pm EST
The Gardiner Museum seeks to commission an outdoor public artwork to honour the ongoing Indigenous presence on Turtle Island. As a museum that features the exhibition of ceramic art, the Gardiner is uniquely positioned to support a work that is both made from the earth and invokes Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the Natural World. On the Ancestral territory and gathering place of the Anishnaabe, the Haudenosaunee, the Petun, the Wendat and the treaty territory of Mississaugas of the Credit, this project may also acknowledge the connections among the many Indigenous communities this land has supported from time immemorial.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
In keeping with the Gardiner’s mission to build community with clay, the commissioned artwork must be clay-based or involve a significant ceramic component. The artwork is an opportunity to recognize the history and ongoing Indigenous presence on Turtle Island. It can also represent a welcome to the Museum, and its placement can accentuate this aspect of the work. The work should explicitly communicate its content, so that viewers will readily recognize its function of representing, honouring, and evoking Indigenous communities’ presence on and relationship to the land.
This is the first stage in a two-stage selection process. From the qualifications submitted, three applicants will be selected to complete a formal proposal. An Advisory Group will work with the Gardiner Museum and guide the project, including the selection process and eventual choice of the work to be installed on the Gardiner Museum plaza.
ADVISORY GROUP
Andre Morriseau, Communications Manager, Ontario Native Women’s Association
Kerry Swanson, Managing Director, Indigenous Screen Office
Catherine Tammaro, Chair of the Indigenous Arts Committee; Board of Directors, Toronto Arts Council
Mary Anne Barkhouse, Artist
Jason Ryle, Independent Arts Consultant
Kent Monkman, Artist
Duke Redbird, Elder, Saugeen First Nation
Sequoia Miller, Chief Curator, Gardiner Museum
WHO CAN APPLY
We welcome applications from Indigenous artists (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis). We ask applicants to identify Nations with which they affiliate.
HOW TO APPLY
Interested artists are requested to please submit the following:
- Letter of intention describing what interests you about this project (up to 1 page)
- CV or narrative description of background, training, and artistic work (up to 5 pages)
- Images of completed artworks or artistic projects, including title, date, materials, and site (up to 20 images total)
- A signed Agreement to Propose and Consent Form
Please submit proposals to:
Digital: artworxto@gardinermuseum.on.ca
Physical:
Kent Monkman
c/o Gardiner Museum
111 Queen’s Park
Toronto, ON
M5S 2C7
For questions, please contact:
Sequoia Miller
Chief Curator, Gardiner Museum
sequoia@gardinermuseum.on.ca
416-408-5072
Please submit materials as a single digital PDF or hard copy packet. Complete submissions must be received by the Gardiner Museum by 5 pm EST on December 16 in order to be considered. Incomplete submissions will be subject to disqualification. All submission materials will be retained by the Gardiner Museum.
Project Completion: Fall 2021
Click here to view the complete Call for Expressions of Interest guidelines and to submit your qualifications.
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 the most important collection of European porcelain in Canada, 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 best 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.
ACCESSIBILITY:
The Gardiner Museum is an accessible venue with a ramp from the street leading up to the main lobby entrance. The entrance is accessible via two sets of double doors with an access button. Accessible restrooms are available on the second and third floors. Third floor washrooms are also gender neutral.
The Gardiner strives at all times to provide goods and services in a way that respects the dignity and independence of people with disabilities. We are committed to giving people with disabilities the same opportunity to access and benefit from our services in the same place and in a similar way as other customers whenever possible. We welcome your feedback.
Gardiner Museum
111 Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C7
416.586.8080
gardinermuseum.com
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