Week 2: Save the Art

14 May 2021

Welcome to Week 2 of 21 Weeks of Resistance, keeping the Foundry Site in the public eye.

The protest art on the Foundry hoardings is now being censored by Quantum Murray workers.

They are painting all the plywood black to cover up everything the community has put there.

Your task this week is to make sure this does not go unremarked and, possibly, to save some of the artworks that have not been destroyed.

MPP Suze Morrison has already responded with a letter to Wes Hall, Chairman of Quantum Murray, the demolition company that employs and instructs the men doing the work.

Please use social media or email to express your opinion on this disrespect for the community's voice.

....

PS Here's a quick addendum to this week's task:

MPP Suze Morrison spoke to a VP at Quantum Murray and persuaded them not to touch the artworks on the south wall. They will instruct the workers to stop at the south end of Rolling Mills Road.

The outraged reaction of the community over the past day no doubt played a role in this decision.

Therefore this week's message shifts slightly:

Let's praise the wisdom of the decision to stop, celebrate the strength of community action, and mourn the artworks already lost.

Here are the key points re-cast in this light.

Erasing community voices is censorship
A newly-galvanized community will certainly replace the destroyed installations with new ones
An art gallery has grown up spontaneously on the south wall as a place for the community to express itself. Let's celebrate its preservation!
Quantum Murray has gained a little more community trust by listening to our voices and stopping the erasure.
It is vitally important to respect the ideas and intentions of the community. The actions of Quantum Murray and of the government should reflect this.
Mutual respect is the only chance the province has to relax the massively expensive deadlock with the City and the community.

If you have time, use your own words, to ensure your genuine opinion is being expressed.

Visuals:

All communications will be more powerful with visuals! Ideally, if you're in the neighbourhood take a stroll down and document something that stands out for you.

Or follow either of these links to find 17 different images you can use to reinforce your message.

Friends of the Foundry

PS Thank you Foundry Friend Rebecca for gathering the Instagram tags for addition here:

Twitter tags:

@FoundryFriends - that's us, tag us in!
@fordnation - Premier Doug Ford
@SteveClarkPC - Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
@KingaSurmaMPP - Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure*
@kingofbaystreet - Wes Hall, Chairman, Quantum Murray
@QMEnv - Quantum Murray

Facebook tags:

@Friends of the Foundry - that's us, tag us in!
@steveclarkmpp - Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
@fordnationdougford - Premier Doug Ford
@surmakinga - Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure*
@QMEnvironmental - Quantum Murray (Wes Hall)

Instagram:

@friendsofthefoundry - that's us, tag us in!
@fordnationdougford - Premier Doug Ford
@SteveClarkmpp - Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
@KingaSurmampp - Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure*
@kingofbayst - Wes Hall, Chairman, Quantum Murray
@qmenv - Quantum Murray

Email:

[email protected] - that's us, bcc us!
[email protected] - Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
[email protected] - Premier Doug Ford
[email protected] - Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure*
[email protected] - Quantum Murray (Wes Hall)

* updated to reflect June 2021 cabinet shuffle