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?
Nathan Weidner

Reckless Mercy is a feature film that we completed in November of 2024. However, the original concept for the film was mapped out in 1989 in a notebook while I was in college. I had wanted to write a story to pay homage to my friendship with a guy who had recently entered my life and made a huge impact on me. The story was about a psychologist who is charged with entering a jail in an attempt to get an alleged murderer to open up and talk to his pubic defender. The film’s central question was whether or not you could forgive someone for murder. The story didn’t get past about 20 written notebook pages, though, and it sat in my trunk for years. Read more>>
LARIE COWANS

So I’m excited to share that I recently released my 1st ever video on YouTube with my best friend since childhood CedLyfe. The song is called Palm Trees and it is currently over 16k views. No paid views or bots all organic viewers. For this being my 1st visual it motivates me that I’m on the right track. Read more>>
Dewey Huang

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my Mandarin Bossa Nova Suite. This innovative suite forges a new path in Chinese pop and jazz by blending the lyrical beauty and nostalgia of classic Chinese oldies—especially those of Teresa Teng—with the sophisticated rhythms and harmonies of Bossa Nova, inspired by icons like Antônio Carlos Jobim, Stan Getz, and Luiz Bonfa. This project is especially close to my heart because it represents both my musical journey and my cultural identity. Read more>>
Tristan Sojka

I think the most meaningful project I’ve ever been apart of was during my sophomore year at Georgia Southern University when I worked as the assistant stage manager for the theater department’s production of “Fairview.” The play itself is a take on how white people often times control the narratives about the black community and misconstrue them in a way that consistently puts them in a negative light. Besides the important social issues that this play tackles, it became meaningful to me because of the lifelong friendships I created and the passion I found for not just being on stage, but also being part of something bigger than myself. Read more>>
Kayla Sher

1. The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is starting my own brand, Hot Girls Hate Litter. It began with a simple frustration: I kept seeing how casually people littered and how little attention my generation sometimes gives to sustainability — despite being the ones who will feel the long-term impact. I wanted to change that, but I also knew traditional environmental messaging didn’t always resonate. It often felt heavy, preachy, or disconnected from youth culture. Read more>>
Regan W. H. Macaulay

At least one of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on (and continue to work on) is my middle grade novel series, “Peter Little Wing.” Book one is published and out in the world, book two, “Peter Little Wing and the Bay of Islands” is out later this year, and I’m currently working on books three and four. Read more>>
Nat Wilks

Honestly the most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my current one; creating a series of colouring pages and a dedicated colouring book, both set to launch this summer. I’m a massive believer in how much art and just getting creative can do for mental health and wellbeing. I know first-hand how tough it can be to even start something creative when you’re wrestling with your mental health. The blank page can feel overwhelming and add more stress before you’ve even got started, when all you’re trying to do is find a bit of calm. Despite having a solid creative practice myself, I still use colouring pages to destress and even to get my mind in creative mode. Read more>>
Deren Bratian

Among the many meaningful projects I’ve been part of, recent experiences stand out as especially transformative. My world truly opened up when I began working on the contemporary piece Ave Verum Corpus by the young Armenian composer Manne Von M. This project became more than just a performance—it became a turning point in my artistic journey. Ave Verum Corpus, a duet for piano and voice, awakened something deeply personal in me. I remember the moment I met the composer—she handed me the score, and I was immediately drawn to it. Read more>>
Pippa Arend

Each project I work on is the most meaningful. It’s like asking: What’s your favorite kind of pizza? The answer is always, “The one in my hand.”
My current project is about what makes a person, what makes a lineage – like a DNA “whodunnit.” This has resulted in a wild, witchy and visceral project, in which I’ve been rooting about in the woods and the streets of Portland to find, make, forage and harvest the materials to craft images (sketched on tree bark using bone inks and paints that I made), and they’re all connected like an Evidence Board with a knotted tangle of 53′ of cordage that I harvested (and boiled and dried and twined) – one year for every year I’ve been around on this planet. Read more>>
Manasi Vaidya

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on was designing and leading a workshop called “Making the Web Accessible for Older Adults.” I created it while I was a graduate student at MIT, with support from the MIT AgeLab. The goal was to raise awareness about how digital experiences can be exclusionary for older adults. I designed this course as part of the ‘Kaufman Teaching Certificate Program’ at MIT’s Teaching and Learning Lab. Most of the participants were PhD students developing curricula for courses they planned to teach. Read more>>
Zoe McCarthy

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on has been a collaborative installation called “Operation” with artist and friend Carole Jolly. “Operation” is a space where visitors can explore emotional and sensory concepts through playful interaction with art. Inspired by a series of figurative portraits created by Carole depicting states of loss, love, and joy, these characters are brought to life through sculpture, animation, and audience participation. The figures in Carole’s paintings depict bodily organs in various states of emotional activation, which we have converted into mixed media 3d sculptures that guests are invited to play with, reminiscent of the childhood game “Operation”. Read more>>
Angie

For my Graduating BFA gallery, I discussed the topic of mental health as a theoretical concept. especially after the pandemic and how it negatively affected the public during that period. During opening night, I connected with viewers and had one-on-one conversations with people experiencing mental health issues, whether it was during the pandemic or after. Read more>>
Solenn Etienne

Lately, I have been diving more into my creativity as a choreographer. As a result, a 5-min solo piece was created : Mother, May I Sleep with my demons? I never realized, before, how inter-generational trauma impacted us black woman. But having a younger sibling to protect and guide through a world that keeps on challenging us, I could see through her hard times, some of my hard times that I had forgotten with time. Read more>>
Naomi Kenyon

All of my projects having something meaningful behind it, but I think my newest project “BIRDCAGE WALK” will be my most meaningful yet. It follows these two characters meeting each other. One is super optimistic and the other is the complete opposite. It is very heavily concentrated on the environment around these characters and what these characters wear. It is about how happy people can be sad too, and how suicide is effected by the people you would least expect. I like to focus on heavy subjects that need to be talked about more. Especially around suicide, having struggled with that in my past and also with people around me. Read more>>
SciFi Ensemble

One of the most meaningful projects we’ve developed with SCIFI Ensemble is our Education Program for youth orchestras and schools. From the outset, we’ve believed that the music of our time — from films, video games, and anime — holds immense power to inspire and engage the next generation of string players. What began as a performance ensemble has grown into a comprehensive educational initiative that connects deeply with young musicians by meeting them where they are, through the soundtracks they love. Read more>>
Scott Wainwright

One of the most meaningful projects that I ever worked was my first published tabletop game, Brutality Skirmish Wargame. The creative process involved with designing, playtesting, creating, editing, and publishing that game was a huge achievement in my life. My entire life, I had groups of friends who would play the board and card games that I made each week, but they were not “gamers”. They did not share my passion for game design and while they had fun, it was not the target demographic. Read more>>
Ali Shah

My upcoming project, “Boy Blues,” is the most personal and meaningful project that I have worked on. I started conceptualizing it in late 2023, after the release of my previous EP “The Talking Stage,” which was about dealing with situationship heartbreak. On the contrary, this new project kept developing into finding love and learning about what that does to someone. It’s about the ups and downs, the highs and lows of being a boy and being with a boy. What makes this so meaningful is that I have been able to diversify the sound of this project to reflect my autobiographical stories, stepping out of my comfort zone while still writing with the honesty I’ve become known for. Although my previous projects were personal, the ultimate goal with them was to create music that people would relate to. With this project, it’s about replicating important moments from my story, for myself. Read more>>
Pete Wilder

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is the one I’m working on right now – American Poetry. Which will be out later this year. It’s been a reset button for me, both creatively and personally. I wrote most of the songs while at work. I would type them into Notes on my phone, then work them out once I got home. It’s been a slow, deliberate process, but every part of it has felt meaningful in its own way. Read more>>
Violeta De Leon Davila

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve created is my contemporary dance film, They Taught You Wrong: Metanoia – A Transformative Change. This work came to life at a moment when both my personal and artistic identity were shifting—during the early months of the pandemic, after years of putting my choreographic career on hold to raise two young children and adjust to life in the United States after immigrating from Mexico. Read more>>
Maggie Yang

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on is my book Graftings, a collection of my poetry and visual art. I grew up primarily painting and only began writing poetry later, so much of my poetic language is inspired and shaped by the way I think visually, especially in terms of imagery, color, and composition. Graftings gave me the chance to explore how these two media can inspire and infuse into each other, especially on themes I’ve always been interested in exploring, such as memory, ethnicity, relationships, and how time can affect them. Read more>>
Elisha Frontz

The most meaningful project I’ve been working on lately was inspired by events from my own life. As 2023 came to an end it became increasingly clear that my 80 year-old father-in-law was changing. He starting getting lost coming home from the store just two blocks from the house he had lived in for more than 45 years. For decades he had spent several nights a week volunteering for different organizations, and suddenly he stopped leaving the house. Once a fastidious, financially responsible person, he stopped paying bills. At the beginning of 2024 he was officially diagnosed with dementia caused by Alzheimer’s. Read more>>
Juyi Mao

Tell It to Spring is a short film that merges analog film aesthetics with concrete poetry. What makes this film meaningful is the way it allowed me to work across forms like Super 8 film, sound art, and performance without needing to resolve them into a linear narrative. I used the film’s perforations as miniature frames for animated drawings, images, and personal video fragments. This method became a way for me to speak without being answered. As I layered the work with ecological references to plant migration, biological invasion, and diasporic longing, the film deepened into a meditation on displacement, not just of people but of species and seasons. Read more>>
Janine Robertson

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve had the privilege to be part of was creating artwork for Yale New Haven Health. Early in my career as a full-time artist, I was exhibiting at a small co-op gallery in Chester, Connecticut. During that time, a Yale art consultant discovered my work, and we developed a professional relationship. She felt that my paintings—known for their vibrant colors and calming presence—were a great fit for the healthcare environment. Read more>>
Zack Schuster

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is an ongoing documentary about the sport of Flowboarding and the dedicated community that surrounds it. I was first introduced to Flowboarding when I was 13. It’s a unique sport where riders perform tricks on a manufactured wave machine called a FlowRider; blending elements of surfing, wakeboarding, snowboarding, and skateboarding. While many people may have seen or briefly tried the FlowRider at a waterpark, few realize that there’s a passionate, tight-knit community of athletes who train regularly and push the limits of what can be done on this wave. Read more>>
Jon Barlow HUDSON

While each sculpture project/commission is an adventure in itself, a very significant such was being commissioned by World Expo 1988 in Brisbane, Australia, to create two very large-scale sculptures in stainless steel for Expo. I built them with Commercial Metal Fabricators in Dayton, OH, then shipped them over. At the appropriate time I flew over to finish MORNING STAR II on site. I was on Expo site for five weeks doing this work, observing the building of the whole Expo site and meeting a wide variety of interesting people. Once I was done with my project, I traveled around different areas in the eastern half of Australia. Read more>>
Nathan Shafer

I have been making a comic book called Wintermoot for a few years now. It isn’t my only project, but one that takes up a lot of my time. It’s a worldbuilding project connected to most of my other work. Basically, I just wanted to create a cyberpunk/superhero universe as a conceptual art project. Anyways, the content of Wintermoot is super meaningful to me, but that isn’t why I’m talking about it right now. Read more>>
Pravin Wilkins

To date, the most meaningful project I have worked on as a playwright is a stage play called “Moreno,” which is about four fictional NFL players whose bonds and loyalties are tested when Colin Kaepernick’s protests against police brutality and systemic racism spark action among players across the league during the 2016-2017 season. This play was the winner of the Theatre503 International Playwriting Award in 2020 and received its world premiere in London in 2022. To take a deeply American story to an audience in another country was a fascinating experience; the ways that the themes resonated across the Atlantic were very inspiring to me. Read more>>
Jamal Monsanto

I would have to say the answer to this is two fold. First and foremost I believe one of my most meaningful projects I’ve created is my album “Ella.” I remember in 2011 I stumbled upon a movie called “500 Days of Summer”, and it inspired something in me. The movie explored the rise and fall of a relationship and it took me through the motions in a way that I related to more than any other love film. From then the idea sparked…. In most relationships there are 3 phases. Pre-relationship phase, relationship phase, and then the post-relationship. Read more>>
Jeff Henderson

That’s hard to choose. I’d say the most meaningful project I’ve worked on has been my work “A Christmas Prologue.” I wrote this piece in December of 2024 to be played by a brass ensemble at my church. I had a vision of a Christmas celebration featuring a large brass choir with percussion that could feature some of my local professional friends as well as give a chance to younger musicians still looking for their place in our music community. The piece took several tries to complete, and after many drafts, I finished a work featuring a medley of traditional Christmas carols outlining the Biblical Christmas narrative. Read more>>
Brittany Mackie

One of the reasons that I write, record, and release music is to share my personal story and my experience as a Christian who has struggled with fear and anxiety. In the fall of 2024, I had the opportunity to release an album of original songs all about faith and mental health (out now!). My hope is to encourage others who are struggling in silence, letting them know that they’re not alone! Read more>>
Cecile Klaus

One of the most meaningful projects of my career has been founding my roller dance company, Missile, back in 2005. This year, we’re celebrating 20 years of roller dancing—two decades of performing, creating, coaching, inspiring, and constantly reinventing. Read more>>
Aaron Peoples

My latest and most meaningful work so far has been the song Fine, Great. It has to be hands down the song that I believe everyone needs to hear. The message behind it is so simple, yet profound. Noone in every situation or category is perfect. Read more>>
Jason

Over 20 years ago, my brother-in-law graduated from Embry-Riddle flight school, and as a present I made him a ink-and-watercolor diagram entitled “A Primer of Pig Aviation”. There were anatomical labels of a pig aviator, some perspectives to show him coming and going, and something called Aerodynamic Disposition. I made comparison charts between the flight paths of a bird, a butterfly, a cannonball, and a pig. And, I wrote a couple paragraphs of Nonsense that made me smile, and which concluded with with “…pigs in flight can pose a significant danger to small children, pets (esp. goldfish), ant farms, tomato plants, and adults carrying groceries.” Read more>>
Sarah Elizabeth Larson

Some of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on have been with actor, performer, and all-around creative genius Alex Grelle. We first connected in 2019 after a mutual friend recommended me to document his work, and I’ve been photographing some of his rehearsals, performances, and behind-the-scenes moments ever since. Read more>>
Angela Camila Chiquiza

after living in the US my whole adut life, I decided to travel for an extended period of time in Latin America, by being there long term I got to experinece the everday culutre and how infused it was with ancestral knowledge, practices and rituals, I felt a connection I had not felt before and becuse of my sociology background I knew the impact it could have in the culutre of atlanta nd the diaspora in the South east. I decided to bring some of that culture and connection to the the diaspora in the U.S. Read more>>
Alterik Miller

Laundry by far has been the most meaningful project I have to date. It’s about a real traumatic event that happened in my life, and I was afraid to share my vulnerability with the world, but it seems I chose correctly because the film is getting a lot of attention. Read more>>
Ryan Driscoll

The most meaningful project is one in which I am currently involved, its a tribute to Broadway musicals called The Best of Broadway. This is a concert series featuring four vocalists (of which I am one) performing a wide variety of songs from classic and contemporary Broadway musicals. I grew up in Musical Theatre performing in many musicals and I always loved the connection I had with the roles and the audience. I also enjoyed the diverse nature of the roles I played, from Marius in Les Miserables and Lt. Cable in South Pacific, to J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls. Read more>>
Cleo Peng

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on is Can you __ me?, a self-published two-volume art book created between 2022 and 2024. It emerged during a time of personal transition—moving alone from China to New York to pursue a creative life. I used this project to explore themes of emotional transience, cultural displacement, and intimacy through mixed media works, interviews, and photography. Read more>>
Enrique Ferrer

The latest and most meaningful project I have worked on would be the mixing and mastering work I did for the local Miami pop/rock singer and songwriter Michi Sanz and her music project. I was introduced to her by her music producer because they wanted someone to mix and master their new music that came with a music genre change, in this case to pop/rock. They were looking for someone to give it that 90’s pop/rock sound with distorted guitars, punchy drums, and in-your-face vocals, which I personally love, and was able to replicate! Read more>>
Dawn Goldstein

This is a really wonderful and thoughtful question. It’s difficult to choose the most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far, but I would have to say my graphite drawing titled Connection. It depicts a silverback gorilla tenderly embracing his baby son. Like much of my work, this piece explores emotional bonds that transcend words and even species. The authenticity, vulnerability, and raw emotional depth in that moment spoke directly to me—and I believe we’re living in a time where many people are craving that same kind of genuine connection. Read more>>
Lilah Juergens

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is the one I’m working on right now. in 2024, I was in a deep transformational time in my life. Some would say it was because it was my saturn return, but I would say it was just a time when I was finally held by community enough to face the darkest parts of myself and my past head on. Throughout the year, I poured myself into my poetry, writing approximately one poem a month, allowing myself time to really chew on the deeper layers of my psyche. I ended up with 13 poems, a baker’s dozen (extremely suitable for a pastry chef), spanning topics from bipolar awareness to trans rights to the main theme of the collection which is “the hole where the love was supposed to be”, culminating in a vivid picture of my life that tells a story of resilience and transformation. Read more>>
Erika J

Honestly, I can’t pick just one — and that’s what makes EJ’s Expressions so special. Every project I work on is custom, meaning every item carries a unique story and emotional weight. I’ve created time capsule favors for a baby’s first birthday that parents will open years from now. I’ve designed keepsakes that honor the memory of someone’s late grandmother — pieces that were cried over, hugged, and cherished. I’ve helped people surprise their best friends, spouses, and even coworkers with something heartfelt and one-of-a-kind. Read more>>
Isaiah Lane

Upon all of the milestone moments of projects I have accomplished as a young fashion designer, one that I can undoubtedly recognize as my proudest and most meaningful is the creation of my first Bridal Couture Gown, The “Andraya Gown”, made for my cousin, “Andraya Lane”, to be worn on her wedding day. The story of this meaningful journey all begins when Andraya had asked me to come over one day to discuss a very important question she had. Upon my arrival, The whole Lane family was present and gathered around the dining room table, anticipating Andraya to ask her important question to me. Read more>>
Flora Banhegyi

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on recently was a short film called French Fries, written and directed by the talented Amit Shilo and produced by Sebastian Fabres. I had the honor of playing the lead role, Alex, and from the first audition to the final day on set, this project has been such a rewarding experience. Read more>>
Sam Marjaei

Fifteen weeks into my Studio Art capstone as a part of my BA at Knox College, there came a shift in my practice from making wall sculptures to making monuments, all with wood. I was fortunate for the live cedar tree I received as donation from my advisor, which marked the beginning of my interest in the intensity of scale and weight in my work. Not to mention that since it’s live wood, there are ant colonies, and all sorts of life in there that remain to be a part of the pieces. I no longer felt the need to control or clean the material into submission. The presence of life, decay, and density felt honest, and that came to be important to me. Read more>>
Daniela Salgado

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is one I’m still deeply immersed in: a year-long journey of documenting my life, every single day, from the moment I wake up around 4:30 AM to when I finally go to bed, often past midnight. I call it 365 Days in My Life as an artist and CEO. It’s more than just a daily vlog, it’s a personal transformation, a mindset shift, and a mission to inspire others. Read more>>
Anne Harkness

My company is Anne Harkness Fine Art. It is run by me and I am the sole owner. The question of quality was always a focus, for me. If the artwork was not strong and just as I wanted it, I did not consider it complete and therefore you would never see it is it was not complete. Read more>>