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 recently dead Canadian potter Ruth Gowdy McKinley.

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, Waterloo emerged as the clear choice on the strength of its commitment to provide a prime uptown location.

[citation needed] Over the next nine years, a core team of volunteers 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.

Vancouver architects John and Patricia Patkau finished first and subsequently transformed the property at the corner of Caroline and Erb Streets from an aged hockey arena into a cultural edifice.

Currently The Clay & Glass receives annual and multi-year funding from the three levels of Canadian government –– municipal, provincial and federal.

[citation needed] One of the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery's key objectives is the development, management and conservation of its Permanent Collection to the highest art museum standards for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future audiences.

[citation needed] On June 30, 2008, the Gallery was granted Category 'A' status within the Cultural Properties Export and Import Act.

They consist of unique primary materials such as personal papers, notebooks, sketchbooks, scrapbooks, drawings, blueprints, ephemera, photographs, slides, and transparencies.

[citation needed] The library has an extensive holding of Exhibition catalogues, both from the venue itself and outside, trade publications related to the fields of glass and ceramics, works on paper, slides of the collection and early gallery, as well as educational movies.

Most of the recreational educational offerings are intended to help individuals develop an arts vocabulary and gain enough knowledge to interpret and appreciate contemporary glass, ceramic, and enamel artworks.