Deadline: January 26, 2025, 5 pm EST

The Gardiner Museum in Toronto is seeking proposals for its annual Gardiner Museum Curatorial Residency.

The Gardiner Museum Curatorial Residency is made possible through the generous support of the Rebanks Family.

ABOUT THE GARDINER MUSEUM

The Gardiner Museum leverages the powerful storytelling attributes of ceramics as well as its rich history and universality to engage audiences of diverse backgrounds and experiences. As an essential civic institution in the city of Toronto, the Museum presents a full roster of exhibitions, programs, and hands-on classes, while stewarding a permanent collection of international significance. With over 5,000 objects from the Ancestral Americas, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as an important collection of contemporary Canadian and international works, the Gardiner is among the few museums focused on ceramics and is one of the world’s most notable specialty museums.

Learn more at gardinermuseum.com.

The Museum is currently undergoing a transformation of our ground floor, guided by principles of connectivity, access, and Indigeneity. With completion expected in fall 2025, the renovated spaces will reflect the Gardiner’s mission to make all visitors feel welcome, to engage them with the medium of ceramics in a hands-on way, and to encourage them to see themselves and their culture reflected in the history of human interaction with clay.

Learn more at gardinermuseum.on.ca/fromthegroundup.

THE GARDINER MUSEUM CURATORIAL RESIDENCY

The Gardiner Museum Curatorial Residency provides the successful applicant with a paid opportunity to conceive, research, and produce a small-scale museum exhibition and gain experience in a professional environment. The aims of the Residency are to support a new and diverse generation of aspiring and emerging curators by offering them an opportunity to communicate their ideas to a broad public; to promote new approaches to the study and presentation of ceramics; and to encourage innovative research on the Gardiner’s permanent collection in an international context. The Curatorial Residency is an annual program, launched in 2022. Unsuccessful applicants from previous years are encouraged to apply again.

RESIDENCY DESCRIPTION

The Curatorial Residency program is typically about 20 weeks long and its main outcome is an exhibition presented at the Museum. The exhibition should focus on clay or ceramic works, works that are primarily ceramic, or ceramic works in context with other objects or artworks. The theme should be of contemporary relevance and informed by the latest scholarship, whether the actual objects are historical or contemporary. As one of the objectives of the Residency is to advance knowledge and interpretation of the Gardiner’s collection, the exhibition should draw from or directly relate to the Museum’s holdings.

There are two components within the residency to achieve this goal. The first is a travel component (typically 2 – 4 weeks), with financial support for the selected applicant’s travel outside of Canada to research their exhibition, including visiting other museums. This invaluable experience will enhance the exhibition, deepen its scholarship, and provide a unique opportunity for professional and personal growth. The second component is full-time work at the Gardiner Museum (typically 16 – 18 weeks). This portion of the residency focuses on the research, development, writing, and realization phases of the exhibition, along with participation in the regular curatorial operations of the Museum, through which the selected applicant gains broader exposure to Museum practice.

The Curatorial Resident will also give at least one public presentation about their exhibition and contribute to the Gardiner’s digital platforms with content about their project. The Resident may include additional programs or a publication as part of their proposal; any element must be reflected within the project budget.

Please note that the position requires the Resident to work mostly on site.

BUDGET

The total Residency budget is $45,000 CAD.

The Curatorial Resident will receive $25,000 CAD, which will be directly managed by the Curatorial Resident, with distribution and accountability guidelines specified at the time of acceptance. The Gardiner Museum recommends the Curatorial Resident allot $18,000 CAD to cover all costs of living, salary, and outside research costs for the time spent in Toronto at the Gardiner Museum for a period of approximately 16 – 18 weeks, with the remaining $7,000 CAD directed towards the travel component of the Residency (typically 2 – 4 weeks).

An additional $20,000 CAD is available for the exhibition and will be managed by the Gardiner Museum. These funds will cover any exhibition-related expenses, including but not limited to: loan fees (charged by institutions to borrow works), artist commission fees (cost to create new artwork), exhibition rights fees (CARFAC – The Gardiner is a Category III institution), transportation of artworks, packing/crating costs, conservation, installation, image permissions, production costs associated with graphics and publication, additional equipment, programming etc.

Exclusions: General Museum marketing and promotion (including exterior signage) and in-house design.

The Residency should take place between May 2025 – January 2026. The Curatorial Resident may propose to hold the residency from May – September or from September – January. In both instances, the exhibition resulting from the residency has an anticipated opening date in January/February 2026 (may be subject to change).

WHO CAN APPLY

The Curatorial Residency is open to Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are enrolled in, or have recently graduated from a Master’s program in Museum Studies, Curatorial Studies, or Art History; doctoral candidates or recent graduates in those fields; and those pursuing independent or community-based curatorial work at the early stages of their career. As long as you meet the above criteria, you may apply if you live outside of Canada. The Residency seeks to build upon previous training and experiences while creating an opportunity for aspiring curators to enter the field. Applicants should have some demonstrated commitment to presenting visual arts in exhibition contexts, although not necessarily specific experience with ceramics.

HOW TO APPLY

Please download and read the full application before applying. Interested applicants are required to please submit the following:

1. Cover letter (one page) providing a narrative description of background, training, relevant curatorial work and career objectives emphasizing how the residency will help you achieve these goals.

2. CV (up to 4 pages)

3. Exhibition proposal, which should include:

• The proposed concept and research plan with a description of the travel to be undertaken (Maximum length: 2,000 words)
• Work schedule (1 page), and general budget for the project (1 page). Further details about the exhibition proposal and budget are explained in the full application package.

4. A signed Agreement to Propose and Consent Form (included in Appendix B of the full application package)

Please submit materials as a single digital PDF. Complete submissions must be received by the Gardiner Museum by 5 pm EST on January 26, 2025 to be considered. Incomplete submissions will be subject to disqualification. All submission materials will be retained by the Gardiner Museum. The selected applicant will be notified mid-February 2025.

Submit complete proposals, as well as any questions, to:
[email protected]
111 Queen’s Park
Toronto, ON M5S 2C7

EXHIBITION PROPOSAL

Location
The Curatorial Resident will develop an exhibition for the Museum’s lobby space. This includes a wall case and free-standing cases (see Appendix A of the full application package for images and details). The final layout must follow accessibility standards used by the Museum.

Design Elements
A detailed exhibition layout is not required for this proposal. However, the exhibition will include didactic and interpretive wall text and graphic elements. If the proposed exhibition has complex display considerations, either built or audiovisual, these will need to be accounted for within the overall budget. For example, if you plan to use a video component or related feature, consider the associated costs.

Exhibition Checklist

A portion of the artworks featured should come from or directly relate to the Gardiner’s permanent collection, however additional objects can be borrowed from private collections, artists and/or institutions. The exhibition may also be fully anchored in the Gardiner’s collection. If including loans, the proposal must demonstrate the viability of such loans within the project budget and timeline, and how appropriate conservation and security standards will be met.

The selection of objects and their number should consider the spaces restrictions of the exhibition space (see appendix A of the full application package).

The Gardiner Museum’s permanent collection is fully available online. Click here to access the database.

Publication & Programming
Publications (virtual or printed) may be included in the proposals at the discretion of the applicant. If a publication is anticipated, it would need to be realized within the overall project budget and timeline.

One public program presented by the Curatorial Resident is a requirement of the Residency, however we encourage applicants to think of additional programming opportunities for inclusion in their project proposal. Any additional programming should be part of the overall budget for the project.

Schedule
In your proposal, please provide a general schedule for the full duration of the Residency (approximately 20 weeks), including the travel and research components. Travel should take place towards the beginning of the residency as it will inform the work to be done in the remainder of the project.

Budget
Please provide a general overview of how the exhibition budget ($20,000 CAD) will be allocated including potential loan/artist fees, shipping and crating, installation costs (materials, labour, and didactics), as well as any publication and/or programming costs should you choose to include those elements.

Staff Support
While Gardiner staff will support the full and successful realization of the project, proposals must be structured in a way that the Curatorial Resident is able to lead on the research, administration, content development, and logistics of the exhibition.

SELECTION PROCESS

Imagination, creativity, and innovation are essential to any proposal selected. The applicant’s desire to communicate with an audience and to share a thought-provoking vision is an imperative consideration.

Applications will be assessed based on the following criteria:

• Merit
• Benefit to the candidate
• Benefit to the Museum and its audience
• Originality of exhibition concept and ties to the Gardiner’s permanent collection
• Feasibility of the exhibition within budget and timeframe
• Potential for scholarly or cultural contribution

Applicants may be asked for an interview and references prior to the final selection being made.

The Gardiner Museum is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from qualified candidates from visible and invisible minority group members, women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons across the spectrum of sexual orientation and gender identities and others with the skills and knowledge to productively engage with diverse communities.

PROJECT SCHEDULE

January 26, 2025: Proposals due by 5 pm EST
January 27 – mid February, 2025: Submissions review and interviews
Mid-February 2025: Successful applicant will be notified
May 2025 – January 2026: 20-week residency, including 2 – 4 weeks travel and full time on-site work at the Gardiner Museum
January/February 2026 (TBC): Opening of the Resident’s lobby exhibition

CONTRACT

The selected applicant will enter a contract with the Gardiner Museum. The Gardiner Museum reserves the right to terminate the contract (with or without cause) at any time.

CONTACT

If you have any questions, please contact:
Curatorial Department
[email protected]