Mediation progress & Urbancorp bankruptcy
It’s been close to a year since we engaged in mediation with the City of Toronto and Urbancorp. Progress has been slowed by Urbancorp’s April 2016 filing for bankruptcy protection, which put a pause on our litigation.
It’s been close to a year since we engaged in mediation with the City of Toronto and Urbancorp. Progress has been slowed by Urbancorp’s April 2016 filing for bankruptcy protection, which put a pause on our litigation.
However, we’ve continued to have productive conversations with City staff about a resolution since our October 2015 mediation meeting. While we can’t share any of the details of those conversations quite yet, we’re confident a settlement that secures the space for TMAC is imminent.
In 2016, we hosted dozens of joint programming events as TMAC, deepening the collaboration between our organizations and the local community. Our board and volunteers have invested thousands of hours into this project, driven by the memberships of our organizations (representing over 5,000 artists) and an actively engaged public that continues to demand we fight for dedicated media arts space in Toronto.
TMAC member organizations are bursting at the seams in our current spaces, and closing in on the end of our leases at three different spaces across the city. It is very unlikely our organizations will be able to find new affordable spaces in Toronto if we do not secure our space at 36 Lisgar.
Without space, the vital resources we provide artists working in media and new technologies will disappear. The work we do that enriches the social and cultural fabric of Toronto will be damaged. We urge the City to prove it supports the continuity of media arts nonprofits in Toronto. Keep working with us in good faith to secure the space at 36 Lisgar for the benefit of the community and the organization it was intended for.