Between Worlds: The SMASH Art Party at Gardiner Museum

The Gardiner Museum, the Toronto museum known for its stunning collection of ceramics, will throw its annual SMASH art party on May 30th with this year’s theme entitled Between Worlds.

The Gardiner Museum is one of the only museums in the world dedicated to ceramics, one of the most universal and dynamic art forms. A cultural gem, the Gardiner is renowned for its ground-breaking exhibitions and programming, innovative clay classes, and community-building initiatives. The Museum was founded in 1984 by George and Helen Gardiner to house their world-class collection of ceramics. Since then, the collection has grown to include over 5,000 objects from the Ancient Americas, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as contemporary works with an emphasis on leading Canadian artists. Today, the Gardiner Museum brings together people of all ages and communities through the shared values of creativity, wonder, and community that clay and ceramic traditions inspire.

The SMASH party supports the Gardiner Museum’s Community Access Fund, which allows the Gardiner to welcome roughly 60% of all visitors for free and subsidizes education programs for youth from underserved communities. SMASH also allows a younger audience to experience the Museum.

This year’s theme, Between Worlds, taps into the boundaries between real and surreal, featuring mind-bending art that plays with our expectations. This year’s event Chair, Briony Douglas, is also creating a sculpture for the event.

Douglas has been a professional artist for 10 years though she has been practicing art her entire life. She is quite famously known for works including a 20-foot-long teddy bear made for the Ronald McDonald House, a throne made of tires, an 8 ft. sneaker for Adidas, a house sized guitar made for the Boots and Hearts Festival, as well as a piece of art created for the Red Bull F1 Team, made entirely of recycled materials and much more.

Douglas tells us: “All my pieces are unique, with my style blending sustainability and advocacy, shown through surrealism and pop culture inspiration. In my photography I have photographed the Clintons, Oprah, Jennifer Lawrence, and uses my lens to tell a story, creating unique pieces of art through every frame.”

She adds that collaborating with the Gardiner was an honour as they showcase an art form that paved the way for all other forms of art to exist. “I love the Gardiner because they really teach us about our roots as artists and I think paying respect to that is so important, especially in today’s online filled world.” Douglas adds that being able to give back to the art community in this way is pivotal to her and she is also so grateful to be in a position to do this kind of work.

Douglas feels as an artist being “Between Worlds” resonates as a feeling of not necessarily belonging in one world. She shared that her sculpture comes from a memory of the book Where the Wild Things Are and the symbolism of the boat Max uses to catapult his adventure. “The boat is a symbol in so many fairy tales and stories that represents passage between two worlds and that is where the inspiration comes from for my piece. However, it won’t be a regular boat, we will use a sustainability element to create a unique piece that definitely will be evoking that magical feeling.”

The SMASH art party is hosted by the Gardiner’s highly engaged community of Young Patron Circle members. The Young Patron Circle is comprised of passionate arts advocates from a wide range of professional backgrounds. They are ambassadors for the Gardiner, and SMASH in particular, helping to organize the event, sell tickets, and secure donations.

Other installations for the event are being created by Jaime McCuaig of GUNNAR Floral, Arnie Guha of Acid4Yuppies, and Peggy, a social marketplace for discovering, buying, and selling contemporary art.

To get your tickets and support the Gardiner Museum visit: https://www.gardinermuseum.on.ca/event/smash-between-worlds-2024/

Hillary LeBlanc

Hillary LeBlanc

Hillary is an Acadian-Senegalese queer woman passionate about sharing stories relating to the Black community, fashion, beauty and sustainability.
Art Featured