Canadian artists challenged to create new Toronto landmark using clay

TORONTO, March 31, 2016 /CNW/ - The Gardiner Museum is launching a Ceramic Sculpture Competition, open to all Canadian artists, to commission an original public artwork that will be installed in front of the Museum. Made mostly of ceramics and displayed along the busy Bloor and Avenue Road corridor in Toronto, the new sculpture will join the well-known Jun Kaneko "head" as a focal point of the Museum's plaza.

The winning sculpture will be selected by a jury comprised of artist and novelist, Douglas Coupland; Director of the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Gaëtane Verna; Associate Dean of OCAD University, Michael Prokopow; Gardiner CEO and Executive Director, Kelvin Browne; and Gardiner Chief Curator, Meredith Chilton.

"The Gardiner is a gem of a museum," says Coupland. "A new ceramic piece in this location will be a jewel within a jewel."

The competition launches on March 31 with a call for submissions, and the long list will be narrowed to five finalists by the Museum. The winning artist will be announced in September 2016 and the new sculpture revealed in the summer of 2017.

"The Gardiner Museum's Ceramic Sculpture Competition is a wonderful way for us to mark Canada's 150^th and to advocate for the value of public art within our city," says Browne.

Artists can apply online at www.gardinersculpturecompetition.com.

The Gardiner is grateful to La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso for commissioning the artwork and to the City of Toronto for their support of the project, and would like to recognize Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam and Emmanuelle Gattuso, in particular, for their leadership in helping this important civic initiative to proceed.

SOURCE Gardiner Museum

Media contact: Rachel Weiner, Communications Coordinator, 416.408.5062 or [email protected]