Every once in a while we have the good fortune of working on a project that we feel truly matters, a project that we’ll still be thinking about years from now.  Maybe even something we can imagine telling our grandkids about – surely you’ve had moments like that where something you did in your professional life really mattered?

Christin Muuli

Having chosen and walked the path of acting has brought me to meet some of the bravest risk-takers, create and “live-out” some of the wildest stories on screen and in theater. This leads me to my latest film “The Remedy” (currently in post-production) directed by Alex Kahuam (Failure!), where I play Natalie: the daughter of Chris Mulkey’s (Twin Peaks) character, and the cousin of Timothy Granaderos’ (13 Reasons Why) and London Thor’s (Gen V) characters. I also got to work with the horror icon Doug Jones (Shape of Water) and Jenny O’Hara (Devil). I couldn’t stress enough how much time and effort it takes securing a role in Hollywood, and this one was no different. This particular role in “The Remedy” has to be my first real take on embodying horror, which is a milestone for me. On the other hand, being one of the six movies selected into this year’s Cannes Film Festival – Fantastic Pavilion Galas makes it feel extra special. Read more>>

Aubrey Hinkson

As a busy, working mom with young kids I realized there was a serious unmet need in our community for a toy store where kids could experience classic play. As a mom, I crave the simplicity of retro toys to inspire and excite my children that don’t involve a screen. Every child is so unique and it is fun to see what area’s of the store they gravitate toward….art, science, books, pretend play, active play, collectibles, fidget toys, etc. We want to make the discovery process as fun as playing with the toy itself. We guarantee your child will love walking through the shop, playing with test toys and just being a kid! Read more>>

Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico

June 24th, 2022 marked a seismic shift in the American landscape — not just politically, but emotionally, spiritually, and culturally. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it did more than revoke a constitutional right; it ignited a collective cry that reverberated through the hearts and bodies of millions of women across this nation. In New York City, 17,000 voices surged together in a spontaneous, urgent demonstration — a gathering that became both protest and prayer, resistance and remembrance. Read more>>

Julia Kim

The current project I’m working on, You Uninterrupted, is the most meaningful project I’ve worked/ working on. As an immigrant kid, I spent much of my life questioning my identity—Who am I? Where do I belong? What am I capable of? I realized that without knowing and owning my own story, my own voice, I’d never know the answers to any of these questions. So I started having really brutally honest conversations with myself and my community. Along the way, I’ve come to find that belonging isn’t always something granted—it’s something we can claim too. So my identity in being Asian American became one of my superpowers. Read more>>

Jes McCutchen

Writing the young adult books and actually getting them into the hands of YA readers in Oklahoma has been so meaningful. I set out to write queer-normative stories set in Oklahoma where I grew up. I wanted to show diverse kids in science-fiction and fantasy settings where they aren’t being harmed by society because of who they are. The parents, the schools, the peers, the strangers, are all accepting of the varied identities of the characters. I wanted queer, and neurodiverse kids in Oklahoma to see themselves fighting the aliens, and solving the mysteries. Having adventures with their friends and getting happy endings. Read more>>

Seungheon Lee

The most meaningful project that comes to mind right now is my recent curatorial project, Out of One’s Room. The show took place at Studio in Factory, a space I started after finishing my MFA at Pratt Institute to explore how art can be sustainable and how communities can take shape around it. It’s a place where artists come together to collaborate or test experimental ideas—an open platform shaped collectively with fellow artists. Read more>>

Alan Mackwell

Back in September of 2024, I had an artist residency at the TANK Center for the Sonic Arts, which is based out in Rangely, CO. This residency was established by the B2 staff here at the University of Colorado Boulder and the TANK folks in order to facilitate the growing relationship between the two institutions while giving CU students and alumni access to the TANK Center facility for creative projects and community engagement. Read more>>

Elizabeth Novogratz

In 2018, I started the Species Unite podcast with a simple intention: to amplify the voices of people around the world working to create a better world for animals—farmed, wild, domestic, and those suffering in captivity. What I didn’t fully grasp at the time was just how much pain and exploitation animals endure in every corner of the planet. There is almost no place left untouched by human harm. We have not been good stewards of the Earth, nor have we been kind to the species we share it with. Read more>>

PHEN

Some of the most meaningful projects I have ever worked on are actually projects that haven’t even been released to the world yet. The first being my debut album, “FOOTING IN THE CLOUDS”. I started writing it at the end of 2021, and I’ve had the chance of watching every song go through a process of molding into the songs they are today. The album takes what was the year of 2021 for me, and puts it into a chronological story. You see the end of a relationship, the inability to let go, the way it impacted my view of myself, my faith, values, and ultimately seeing that when I thought I was failing, I was actually growing. That album is just about complete, 3 and a half years later, and I cannot wait to share it with the world.  Read more>>

Lillie Elliot

This is a fun question—and one that takes me back to where it all started! While in college, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Thailand with a team of students and faculty from the UNC School of Journalism. We were working on a multimedia project documenting life in the aftermath of the tsunami. Each of us was assigned a unique story to tell, and I was fortunate to follow a young man from a small coastal village who was training to become a divemaster. Through his journey, I was immersed in the local diving community and welcomed into his home with extraordinary warmth. I shared meals with his family, met neighbors and friends, and navigated the experience using my camera as our common language. Read more>>

Shannon Joy

The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on is “In The Black”. It is a creation born from the rubble of my own life, built with blood, grit, and grace. It wasn’t a business plan or a brainstormed idea, really. It was a lifeline. “In The Black” came from surviving childhood abuse, domestic violence, and nights spent in a shelter with my babies while I earned my degree. It came from eleven relentless years of fighting in my spirit and in courtrooms to protect my children from their abuser. It came from rising again and again when the world told me I was supposed to stay broken. I didn’t just want to survive, I wanted to rewrite the story. And I did. I became the proof that you can be in the red – in debt, in danger, in despair – and still find your way into the black. Read more>>

Lea Pfändler

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far is my latest short script, Delphy. It tells the story of an eccentric teenager who, while grieving her mother’s death, endures bullying at her new school. When she forms an unexpected bond with the popular girl, she embarks on a challenging bike journey that changes her in ways she never expected. Read more>>

Stephanie Ferreira

“Surrender”, the short film I wrote, produced, co-directed, and starred in! I come from an acting background and so I was used to waiting for my next role. You audition, you wait to hear back, most of the time you don’t, and then the cycle continues. It can feel incredibly disempowering as an artist to feel like you’re at the whim of other people’s choices all the time. When all my inner artist wants to do is play and create whenever they want! And so, in a lot of ways I was pigeonholing myself and keeping my creativity designated to being an actor. When I knew I really wanted so much more. So, I finally took the chance on myself and explored writing/producing/directing and activated a whole other side of myself. It’s incredibly powerful as an artist to self-coronate and claim your dreams and not wait for anybody else’s permission slip. Read more>>

Edoardo Miranda

I’ve been part of several meaningful projects that have enriched me both as an actor and as a human. One is the Christian film “Eating With The Enemy” by Ingenuity Films, where I played Peter the Disciple during the last days of the life of Jesus. Another one is the Broadway show “The Last Boy” by Steven Fisher, where I played Maestro, a Jewish music instructor in the ghetto on Terezín during the Holocaust. Read more>>

Jennifer Herlocker

I have always been a bit of a creative. I loved art, photography, theatre, it was a really cathartic outlet for me because I was usually pretty shy, so art allowed me present myself behind a shadow. As I got older went on through life like normal, working and just existing; but my mental health started to slowly take over and I felt like I was becoming powerless to it. I’ve struggled most of my life with depression, anxiety and OCD and when I was really in the deepest moments where i didn’t know if I was going to be able to get myself to move art was the one thing that truly helped. It allowed me to express the frustrations I was feeling that I didn’t want to verbally express to anyone. I felt better as I was creating and felt a little bit renewed. Read more>>

Xinyi Yang

“Strange Hill” is a risograph-printed comic that tells a true story about how I got lost on the hill behind our home—and how my dog, Toto, found me and brought me back safely. I spent a year collaborating with Lucky Risograph to create and print the story. Toto is the first dog in our family. He was born inside a cave on the back hill, my dad brought him to our home. He is the eldest among his siblings. My dad wanted him to guard the house in the country because there were mice, weasels, and even snakes at night. Apart from his night duties, Toto has his own schedule during the day. He sleeps in the morning, goes out to have fun with other wild dogs in the afternoon, and sometimes learns to climb over the wall with the neighbor’s cat. It can be said that Toto is free and knows many places that we cannot determine or reach. That is why Toto could found me in these strange places and brought me home safely. Read more>>

Jerry Garcia

After graduating from college in my hometown in Laredo TX, I moved to San Antonio to attend The Art Institute in 2016. In my last year there I made my first short film Betrayal, a crime drama about a brother saving his sister from gangsters. The film was played in over 20 film festivals and won over 23 awards including best crime short and best original screenplay. Read more>>

Alisha Gaddis

The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on wasn’t flashy or well-funded—it was my very first solo show, Off-Off Broadway, fresh out of NYU. I was living on slices of dollar pizza, student loan fumes, and the belief that art could change lives—starting with mine. I had no money, but I had a vision. And I did what I’ve continued to do ever since: I rallied the most brilliant people I knew—people who were smarter, more experienced, wildly talented—and somehow got them to believe in my project, my passion, my voice. Read more>>

TR3VON

I don’t believe I’ve released my most meaningful project because all of my stuff I hold near and dear to heart. My newest EP project “Phoenix” releasing in May 2025 is my re-emerging project after a long hiatus. Rising out of ashes and reappearing as a new being. This upcoming project is bold and and easy on the ears. You’ll walk away with a good understanding of where I was during the creation of this project. Read more>>

Deborah Scott

I was working with a woman who’d lived through a kind of loss that didn’t have a clear name—something unspoken in her family, never quite acknowledged. When we started talking, she didn’t want to tell the full story. She just offered fragments. Images. Phrases. I didn’t push. I painted from what she gave me—and what she didn’t. Read more>>

Chenning Yang

Filmmaking isn’t something you can truly learn from textbooks—I’ve learned everything by doing. The most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far is Homones, a short film I made during the COVID-19 pandemic. We shot it in my grandma’s town, where I used to spend every summer as a child. Because of remote learning at the time, my friends and I were able to collaborate for the first time as many of us were living back home. The story centers around waxberries, which ripen from late May to early June—a time I was usually stuck at school and unable to return to my grandma’s house. That made this shoot feel especially personal. Read more>>

Zane Rima

When I first started sharing my love for singing online at 15 years old, I never imagined it would turn into a worldwide community of passionate singers. Over the past two years, I had the honor of coaching students 1:1 over Zoom — helping singers all around the world transform their voices. Some of these transformations even went viral, reaching millions of people on social media. I didn’t just work with those who could already sing — I loved the challenge of helping complete beginners who simply had a passion for singing sound good for the first time in their lives. Read more>>

Cristian Duran

The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on is Race: The Movie: The Play. My friend and fellow comedian Bret Raybould and I wrote it as a satire of heavy-handed “white savior” Oscar-bait movies, believing that audiences were savvier than Hollywood often gave them credit for. Read more>>

JOYCE ERB

Exploring my adoptive hometown of Charleston on canvas has become an incredibly rewarding and ongoing project since I moved here from up North ten years ago. Downtown Charleston is a small compact city, but the Lowcountry that surrounds and gives context to the historic peninsula is sprawling and beautiful in a different way. Read more>>

Caroline Bell

One of the most meaningful projects I worked on was collaborating with the artist Cassils to create the performance art piece Etched In Light. This project was made possible by over 140 transgender and gender-nonconforming participants who came together worldwide at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on March 31st, 2024, Trans Day of Visibility. Read more>>