New Exhibitions on Storytelling, Materiality and Our Climate Future

Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery

All are welcome to attend an opening reception at the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario on Thursday, January 29 from 6pm to 8pm.

With four new exhibitions exploring storytelling, materiality, and our climate future, the winter season at the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery is sure to inspire! The opening reception on January 29 offers visitors the opportunity to experience the galleries together, hear curators’ remarks, and gain insight into the ideas and processes behind the work on view. Admission to the Gallery is always free!

Lindsay Montgomery, Pink Moon, 2025. Glazed earthenware. 43 x 64 x 50 cm. Collection of the artist.

Fabled Clay
Featuring Janet Macpherson, Lindsay Montgomery, Amélie Proulx & Annette ten Cate

January 17 – May 24, 2026

Storytelling has long been central to our human experience. Narratives, myths, and fables—shared orally, through text, and through images—have helped us make sense of the world and of one another. Fabled Clay features four Canadian artists who use ceramics as a narrative medium, shaping clay into forms for personal stories and reimagined myths. Drawing on both lived experience and collective memory, Janet Macpherson, Lindsay Montgomery, Amélie Proulx, and Annette ten Cate present stories that blend the familiar with the imagined.

D’Andrea Bowie, Weathered Rock Installation View.

D’Andrea Bowie: Weathered Rock

January 10 – May 17, 2026

Influenced by her environment at the border between the Greater Toronto Area and the surrounding rural landscape, this solo exhibition of the work of D’Andrea Bowie foregrounds her ongoing effort to redefine the role of a sculptor. In ceramics, glass, and reclaimed construction materials, she explores histories of race, gender, capitalism, and settler colonialism through imagery of the natural environment and the elemental. Within these works, Bowie asks us to reengage with our relationships with world-building extracted materials.

Melanie Barnett, Frogfae, 2025. Ceramic, cone 6 oxidation. Collection of the artist.

Melanie Barnett: Frogs’ Return

January 17 – May 24, 2026

Frogs’ Return reflects on our changing relationship with the natural world at a time when connection to the land is increasingly rare. Melanie Barnett’s sculptures draw viewers into imagined ecosystems that feel familiar yet uncanny, shaped by agronomy, climate science, and the artist’s personal memory. Frogs, which are sometimes recognizable and sometimes abstracted, act as liaisons between human and nonhuman life, embodying both ecological vulnerability and the possibility of adaptation.

Material Syntax: 3D Printed Masonry Façade Systems

January 16 – March 27, 2026
Exhibition coordinated by David Correa and Yannik Sigouin

University of Waterloo Architecture students investigate how the building facades of the future can be 3D printed with clay. Inspired by nature, ancient architectural traditions, and emerging technologies, the projects reimagine the clay masonry unit through new design methods and fabrication processes. Working with a state-of-the-art large-volume clay extrusion 3D printer, students in Assistant Professor David Correa’s studio investigate how a traditional material like clay can be transformed for a contemporary architectural context. The exhibition presents a selection of undergraduate and graduate student work that explores the architectural potential of 3D-printed clay facades, where each unit can be uniquely customized.

For more information, visit: www.theclayandglass.ca

Contact
For additional information contact Peter Flannery, Senior Curator & Collections Manager, at 519-746-1882 ext. 235 or peter@theclayandglass.ca.

About the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery
The Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery is an award-winning, national institution based in Waterloo Region celebrating the art and craft of clay, glass, and enamel. As a dynamic cultural organization, we continue to amplify diverse stories—opening dialogue and inspiring social change. Through exhibitions that address issues relevant to our times, an impressive selection of works in our Gallery Shop, and intriguing public programs that engage, educate, and excite—we are accessible to all.

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