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Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery

Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery
French: Galerie Canadienne de la Ceramique et du Verre
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Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery is located in Ontario
Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery
Location of the gallery in Waterloo
Established June 1993 (1993-06)
Location Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates 43°27′54″N 80°31′34″W / 43.465007°N 80.526097°W / 43.465007; -80.526097
Collection size over 1,000
Visitors 20,000
Director William D. Poole
Website www.theclayandglass.ca

The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery (CCGG) is a public art gallery located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada is the only Canadian art gallery exclusively dedicated to exhibiting and collecting ceramic, glass, enamel and stained glass works of art. It has approximately 20,000 annual visitors.

Canada has a long history of silica based arts. The Canadian Guild of Potters — which would later become known as Ceramists Canada —was formed in 1936. Concurrent with the founding of the guild came the first thought of establishing a national ceramics gallery. It wasn’t until 45 years later that the idea gained traction. Construction of the gallery began in 1991 and the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery opened in June 1993. The building was designed by Patkau Architects of Vancouver, who received a Medal of Excellence for the design under the Governor General's Awards for Architecture program in June 1997.

The gallery has more than nine hundred items in the permanent collection and five exhibiting galleries.

At a Ceramists Canada meeting in 1981 came a renewed call to find a permanent home for the country’s finest ceramic pieces. This was prompted by a desire to honour the memory of highly respected and recently passed Canadian potter Ruth Gowdy McKinley. The Glass Art Association of Canada and Artists in Stained Glass later became enthusiastic collaborators as the gallery concept evolved to also incorporate glass, stained glass, and enamel works.

Calgary, Halifax, North York, Victoria, and Waterloo were investigated and evaluated as potential sites for the national gallery. During the Ceramists Canada 1982 Annual General Meeting, the passionate efforts of Waterloo councillor Doreen Thomas and Chief Administration Officer Don Roughly were well rewarded when Waterloo emerged as the clear choice on the strength of its commitment to provide a prime uptown location.

Internationally recognized, locally based sculptor Ann Roberts then lent her expertise to the task of creating the national institution and was soon joined by accomplished local ceramic artist, Winifred Shantz. In those exceptionally capable hands, the proposed Waterloo Gallery for Clay, Glass and Enamel Arts — as it was known at the time — first began to take shape.

Over the next nine years, a core team of determined volunteers patiently guided the planning and conducted the fundraising essential for a project of such magnitude. A 1984 feasibility study, funded by the federal and provincial governments, validated the need for a national gallery dedicated to the ceramic arts.


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