By uniting local, emerging artists, the Artist Impact Movement acts as a lighthouse of creativity and social transformation. Through their events, AIM’s mission is to provide a platform for a range of young creatives and inspire them to support a variety of charitable organisations. We spoke with Maya Berger and Gilad Maianski, the present CCO and COO, as well as two of AIM’s founding founders, to learn more.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
Artist Impact Movement – AIM serves as a beacon of creativity and social change by bringing together local, up-and-coming artists. We seek to platform various young creatives through our events, while encouraging them to give back to various causes. We have currently been raising funds for Rethink Breast Cancer.
What problem does it aim to solve?
Our group targets two issues. The first, a lack of platforms for beginner artists to showcase their work. Secondly, we hope to use art as a way to encourage those around us to start partaking in altruistic activities.
When did you start/join it?
Our group was founded in June of 2023, over a Facetime call.
What made you want to get involved?
Maya is a clothing designer who, at the time, had yet to showcase her work to a larger audience. We thought to ourselves about how rarely student creatives get to show their work to the larger public and decided to host our own fashion show. Furthermore, we thought it would be a great way to give back to our community, by encouraging these artists to use their platform to promote social change.
What was the situation like when you started?
When we first started, we were three people working with a budget of zero. We relied on selling old clothes to help fundraise for our first iteration of IMPACT.
How has it changed since?
Since then, we’ve hired an official exec team, and despite still being self-funded, we have more of a reputation around Montreal. We’ve also managed to expand AIM into Kingston, Ontario. The Kingston team has done an incredible job of adapting our mission to best benefit the Queens University students.
What more needs to be done?
Right now, our main focus is our upcoming event, IMPACT, which will be on November 22nd. We’re still raising funds to help pay for the venue, to ensure that we are able to donate as much as possible to Rethink Breast Cancer. After that, we hope to be able to continue to branch out to other avenues of student creativity.
How can our readers help?
If you’re interested in helping, we are still seeking volunteers for IMPACT. It takes a village to ensure that an event runs smoothly and in an organized manner, so anyone interested can reach out to us via our Instagram (@artistimpactmov).
Do you have any events coming up?
Aside from IMPACT, we are hosting three fundraisers in November. Our first was a live jazz music/curated reading event on November 7th. The second was us tabling at the @circleoffasshion vendor marketplace on November 8th. Lastly, we are hosting a lighter decorating event on the 13th.
Where can we follow you?
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local community organization you love?
For an incredible local cause, please support “A Brilliant Night”. Through the Montreal Neurological Institute, A Brilliant Night has done life-changing work and research to support those struggling with brain cancer. This is a truly noble cause and we highly encourage readers to check it out.
