advocacy
our action plan

Following the June 2009 National Forum, the IMAA board of directors met to prioritize recommendations put forward by the membership to be carried out by the board, staff and subcommittees.  Given that this is an election year, our focus for the short-term is to ensure that media art has a strong voice in setting the tone during the campaign. We will also move forward with a broader advocacy agenda in the promotion of media arts within the various funding departments.

 

Other burning issues that were underlined by the membership include improving employment standards within artist-run organizations, developing the rate schedule, strengthening media arts within Indigenous communities, preserving media artworks, developing exhibition standards and encouraging participation from diverse communities in all parts of Canada. 

 

In order to meet these objectives, we determined that bolstering alliances with other like-minded associations within the independent media arts sector was key to raising our profile. The board is also dedicated to developing our internal structure to improve our ability to meet the needs of the various regions and to strengthen the governance structure of the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition to improve its ability to move forward with its mandate.

 

The IMAA, in collaboration with members in the Toronto area, is working towards a successful and stimulating national conference next June 2010.  The ON Fire Media Arts Conference and Festival will feature internationally acclaimed artists and will cover a broad range of topics reflecting current issues within the field of independent media art.


The following is a breakdown of the specific tasks to be carried out by the board, staff and subcommittees. 

 

ADVOCACY

o       Publish on the IMAA website an Arts Fact Sheet to be presented by members of the media arts community to electoral candidates during the election campaign and to encourage members to set up meetings with their members of parliament.

o       Encourage all political parties to include increases to the Canada Council for the Arts in their election platforms.

o       Lobby the Department of Canadian Heritage to be more inclusive of media arts within their funding programs and to be proactive in supporting aboriginal media artists and organizations.

o       Lobby the Federal Government for additional support for visiting artist programs and audience and market development programs.

o       Advocate on behalf of IMAA members during the Media Arts program review at the Canada Council for the Arts.

o       Lobby the Canada Council for the Arts to be more proactive in supporting Indigenous media arts organizations in strengthening their organizational capacity and development.

 

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS

o       Carry out a Flash Survey on employment standards: a breakdown of salaries and wages and produce a report outlining the breakdown by region and position.

o       Develop a minimum rate structure for the administrative work of artists and cultural workers in our artist-run-centres and to ensure that the language enables implementation by acknowledging regional funding disparities.

o       Develop a toolkit to accompany the rate structure that provides resources on the topic of employment standards and encourages advocacy on the regional level.

 

EXHIBITION STANDARDS

o       Develop a toolkit to assist exhibition spaces with standards for film, video, and new media work and make it available online.

 

DIVERSITY

o       Additional outreach to organizations in the North.

o       Encourage participation from all communities at IMAA events.

o       Produce a best practices toolkit to assist artist-run organizations in developing more culturally diverse and inclusionary practices and opportunities.

 

PRESERVATION

o       Look into a regional depository or preservation coop.

o       Create a best practices document.

o       Carry out a Flash Survey on the topic of preservation to collect data and to build a case for funding.

o       Lobby the federal government to recognize all forms and genres within its support for preservation.

o       Recommend that the Canada Council for the Arts follow through with a preservation study and a national database.

 

RATE SCHEDULE

o       Develop the scale to include educational sales, web broadcast and other relevant fees.

 

BECOME INVOLVED!

To join a subcommittee or to learn more about our activities please contact Timothy Dallett, Interim National Director at or (514) 522-8240.