Working on something meaningful is a common desire – but how? We started asking folks to share the story of how they ended up working on a project they felt was meaningful because we wanted inspiration but also because we wondered if hearing from people from across a range of industries would help us identify patterns making it more likely for anyone to be able to find and work on projects that they would find meaningful.

Keti McKenna

I am inherently a perfectionist, meticulously cutting and sewing each of my designs to achieve absolute precision. At times, finding individuals capable of executing to the same standard proves challenging, leading to moments where I am unable to proceed with production. Read more>>

Teesha Prieto

In the depths of life’s shadows, I stumbled upon the radiant beacon of art. A journey that began with pen and paper, etching poetry since the tender age of seven, burgeoned into a profound love affair with canvas and the captivating dimensions of 3D art. Read more>>

Robert Webb

2020 was a defining moment for my generation. On January 1st, 2020, I had made a life altering choice. It was time for me to change careers. I had won several amatuer awards in photography the autumn prior. Read more>>

Sidney-Max Etienne

As an artist, my canvas has shifted from photographic film to the very soil of Haiti, with plants and ecosystems becoming the subjects of my most meaningful project yet. Read more>>

Caroline Shriver

In 2019 I began working on a solo show as a way to move through grief. I had very suddenly and unexpectedly lost my cousin and felt my world was collapsing. Read more>>

Julie Barrett

My most significant and fulfilling project is an ongoing one where I have the honor of creating mixed-media textile portraits of people’s loved ones. I receive commissions for this work, and it involves using photographs of the subject. Read more>>

Pezo “CoConut” Johnson

Pain On Paper POP is an impactful concept of anger management, social-emotional learning, conflict resolution, and music therapy for male and females ages 10-17 years old. Read more>>

Allison Belolan

It’s hard to call it one “project” but the beginning of the current trajectory of my work started over a week in residency at Zero Foot Hills in Connecticut, in the winter of 2022. Read more>>

Valerie Chen

I spent almost half a year on a project about online abuse survivors’ personal experiences. This is a multimedia feature project that aims to empower people who are experiencing online abuse. Read more>>

Amara

Creating “the doodle shoppe” has been one of my most meaningful projects. Drawing has always been a passion of mine but as work and life became priorities, as they do, I realized I was not carving out time to create for myself. Read more>>

Bird Alley

“The Veil” is our first album, containing 9 tracks of different styles and emotions, telling a story like no other. We worked on it for 4 years, collaborating with different musical and visual artists, building many friendships along the way. Read more>>

Leah Cashaw

My most meaningful/ favorite art piece I made is called “Armor”. I started it in about 2019, took a long break and finished it in 2023. This piece is an embodiment of how Art therapy principles have influenced my art. Read more>>

Paula Borsetti

In the winter of 2013 my dear friends son was diagnosed with ALS. He was 25. From the moment of diagnosis I knew that the only way I could help was through my art. Read more>>

Nicole Holmes

I’ll talk about the Black Joy Parade Participating in the Black Joy Parade was a deeply meaningful project for my Tribe (community). Not only did it serve as a celebration of Black culture and resilience, but it also provided a platform to raise awareness about the importance of sisterhood within the Black community. Read more>>

Joy Giles

The Art Garage mission statement is inspiring and fulfilling. Everyone who works here lives it and encourages it in others. We really want to foster a safe, encouraging, and creative space for all who come to our location or work with us off site. Read more>>

Jiayun Chen

To give a little context, I’m a multidisciplinary artist who is interested in the performance of language–how it communicates, slips, or even fails. I’ve been working on an ongoing project on translation and language since 2021. Read more>>

Katalin La Favre

It is hard to pick one sole project to talk about, but a recent project that was especially moving and pivotal for me was, ‘Bach’s Music Box.’ In this project, I collaborated with a dear friend of mine, Brian Calhoon, whom I hadn’t played with in 16 years. Read more>>

Kim Kowalski

One of the things I do that I find really meaningful actually started out as an attempt to create my own advertising. I was looking for witchy podcasts so I could try to advertise my jewelry business, Clever Kim’s Curios. Read more>>

JOSHUA SMALL

I usually lead with the intention of making meaningful art and stories— I feel like most creators do! But, I will say the most meaningful presently would have to be what I’m currently writing now. Read more>>

Thomas Morgan

It is difficult to pick one. I get so attached to all of the people who allow me to step into their lives and tell their story. One that is top of mind now is the film that is just starting it’s festival run titled Chicho, A Dreamer. Read more>>

Lexi Rodriguez

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on up until now would have to be my 2022 senior thesis film “Marching Memoirs”.Essentially, I interviewed an old friend and fellow member of my high school’s marching band about a meaningful moment during that time that taught them an important life lesson. Read more>>

Wes Martin

While I now I serve as Managing Director for both Dallas and Houston campuses, I had the honor of instructing at MediaTech Institute for a decade, where I specialized in teaching Music Theory & Production, Aural Training, and Songcrafting. Read more>>

Dr. Tamecca Rogers

“Ameka and Her Magical Crown” stands as a beacon of empowerment and inclusivity, reflecting my personal journey and commitment to fostering understanding and acceptance. Read more>>

Darren Smith

Over the last 8 years I’ve travelled to festivals and events around the world in search of the breeding grounds for radical self-expression, seeking to capture and immortalise unique individuals in all their self-expressed beauty and imagination. Read more>>

Jessie Sullivan

I never expected to make my customers cry when I started my small business. I have been creating for as long as I can remember, but after high school, Covid threw a wrench into the plan I thought I had. Read more>>

Nicolette Ray

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is Netflix’s Spirit Rangers. Spirit Rangers is a CG animated preschool show created by Chumash writer Karissa Valencia about a family of young Native forest rangers who use their powers to help the spirits that live on their Southern California reservation. Read more>>

Sam DeRosa-Farag

The artist as a creator is a project that resonates with me. We live in a society that values self expression, But the nature of society is that few people really get their voice heard. Read more>>

Mary Counts

My most meaningful projects have turned out to be my clients who commission pet portraits. It started when I decided to make a portrait of my dog, Teddy and then I was able to create portraits for clients who treasured their pets like a member of the family just like me. Read more>>

Ivan Enrique Rodriguez

One of the most profoundly impactful projects I’ve had the privilege to undertake was a commissioned orchestral piece by the esteemed Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. Read more>>

Theresa Read

I am writing a young adult novel series, The Guardian Chronicles, with two books out so far, Ranger Nader & The Sunstruck Phantom, and Ranger Nader & The Unsolvable Riddle. Read more>>

Jack Sullivan

Hands down the most meaningful, personal project I’ve worked on that reeks of passion is Akimbo, my fully independent video game, which I currently still work on in my copious spare time. Read more>>

Chris Mackin

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve been currently working on is Electric Wonderland, a psychedelic concert version of Alice in Wonderland. I work as a producer and guitarist in the jam band music scene, which heavily focuses on covering legacy artists. Read more>>

Matías Bombal

Having spent my career since a teen as an art and rep house movie exhibitor, starting in the days of 35mm film until the arrival of digital in the 1990’s, the old style movie theatre and its emotional and social impact on the collective culture have been key in my work and life direction. Read more>>

Andrew Bateman

As a university professor, I have the good fortune to be somewhat selective about the projects I work on, so in general every project I work on now is truly meaningful to me. Read more>>

Michelle Cehn

As I reflect on my journey as a kindness advocate, entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of World of Vegan, I’m filled with a profound sense of gratitude for the meaningful projects that have shaped our mission and touched countless lives. Read more>>

Chris Maloney

My most meaningful creative project of my life would unequivocally be the Wallace Theatre. I’ve ultimately had 2 career paths in my life – actor/improviser and web marketer. Read more>>

Zachary Michel

The most meaningful project I’ve had is He’s A Big Boy Now. It’s my debut short film and is the culmination of diving back into film the past two years. It took just jumping in headfirst. Read more>>

Aleksei Chebeliuk

This collaboration with ABC Studios at the dawn of 2020 stands as a hallmark in my career for several profound reasons, magnifying the essence and the breadth of the accordion’s influence in the modern entertainment sphere. Read more>>

Daniel “Moo” Mouzon

The most meaningful project I worked on as a photographer was my first wedding. I was given the incredible opportunity by a client who reached out to me, even though I was only two years into my photography journey. Read more>>

Kali Veach

At the moment of writing this, I am less than three weeks away from starting principal photography on my first feature film. A couple of years ago I made a short film which garnered a small grant to go toward making another project. Read more>>

Harrison Gragg

The band is just on the cusp of reaching the finish line on our first album. At this point we have completely finished recording all 11 songs for the project. The album is being mixed as I write these words! Read more>>

QingYing (Mimi) Guan

Work: “Dissection” dissection2021.com What would it look like if I uploaded my brain to the web?This was the question I started to think about as the pandemic shifted our collective relationship to technology, mediating our communications and controlling our desires through predictive algorithms. Read more>>

Baron Paris

The “Tree of life” is a series of paintings created after a royal doll house. It was a commission for Robert Couturier, the designer for a residence in NYC. Inspired by the stairhall painting in the late Queen Elizabeth’s dollhouse designed in 1924, by Sir Edwin Luytens, the “tree of life” series depicts a pre-biblical scene featuring a genealogical tree adored by flora and fauna. Read more>>

Chin-En Gau

My grandmother passed away last October. Before that, she suffered from severe Alzheimer’s disease. She lived with my grandfather for almost 70 years of her life, and he passed away four months before her. Read more>>

Christina O’Mara

In 2018 our daughter passed away at birth. Our lives changed tremendously. We wanted to celebrate our daughter’s short but impacting life by creating an exciting event and help other families like ours who have suffered from infancy and pregnancy loss. Read more>>