The Our Kids review of Gardiner Museum

The Gardiner Museum, home to a world famous collection of ceramics, also runs one of the city’s most popular kids programs out of their state-of-the-art pottery studios. The sessional classes and camps are expertly run by passionate instructors who not only know the craft, but can interpret it within its historical and cultural contexts. While clay is their specialty, the Gardiner’s full-day summer art camps give kids the opportunity to experiment with a variety of media, including sculpting, drawing, and painting. Campers also get to spend time in the galleries, exploring objects and artworks from around the world and discovering new cultures and histories. Groups are intentionally kept small, with a maximum of 16 in each, meaning everyone gets their own space and maximum time with the materials. The setting, frankly, is thrilling, something that adds to the experience. Spending days in a museum of this stature, working with people this engaged, can be transformative in all kinds of meaningful ways.