Earlier today, IMAA sent an Open Letter to the Canada Council for the Arts on behalf of the Media Arts community regarding the termination of the Media Arts Equipment Acquisition Fund. We are sharing it with you here. 

The letter was drafted by a group within the community in response to a number of sectoral discussions and a meeting with representatives of the CCA regarding the decision to cancel the MAEAF. Thank you to Chris Gehman and everyone on the writing and editing team for leading this process.

For reasons of capacity and expediency, the letter has been signed by only a small  number of organisations: the number of signatures is not an exhaustive list of everyone whose thoughts, concerns, and positions are included in the letter. The list of organizations who participated in the meetings, as well as the organizations who sent in their statements to be included in the appendices document to the letter bring a valuable additional dimension to understanding the lived effects of the cancellation of the Fund. 

We encourage you to share the letter with your members, and to continue engaging with Council regarding the impact of the termination of the Fund. IMAA will continue to advocate for resources for equipment for Media Arts organisations in all its interactions with the funders.