We asked some of the most talented folks in the community to talk to us about projects they’ve worked on that they still think about, projects that really meant something. Have you had such an experience? Are you looking for inspiration for your next project? Check out the stories below, they are exciting, entertaining, and most importantly – inspiring.

Kana Seiki

In a short film called, KOI, I played a Japanese character for the first time on screen. KOI, written and directed by Justine Kaneda, depicts an unbreakable bond between two sisters, through grief experienced by one of them after losing her other half. This was a special project to work on since my character was also a dancer and in one of the scenes, I got to dance and improvise as Justine walked around me with the camera. Justine, a dancer herself, captured the sounds, the breaths, and the movement in such a dynamic way that the scene ended up being one of my favorite scenes I’ve ever shot. The scene communicates the character’s quiet sorrow and desperation in a messy yet freeing sequence. It’s such a rare experience to be able to portray both my Japanese heritage and dance background in film and Justine did such an incredible job shooting and editing it. Read more>>

Alex Dvorak

I’ve never seen a depiction of cancer on screen, especially young adult cancer, that resonated with my real life experience of being a teenager with Lymphoma. When I turned twenty years old, newly in remission, I didn’t raise millions of dollars for a cancer fundraiser, or wear a t-shirt with a ribbon on it. Instead, I had panic attacks, begged my doctors for my morphine drip long after being cut off, and had survivor’s guilt when truly good patients my age died instead of me. I was a bad survivor, and everyone knew it. Read more>>

Carlos Snaider

My forthcoming album is the most meaningful, because it will be my first solo project with my own compositions, production and stories to tell. Most of my professional musical experience in the last 10 years has involved co-leading bands of 4-8 people. I love the collective models of co-creation that have come with that, and am still working with a live band to play the solo-album music at shows, but I knew that at some point I needed to craft a space where I could take complete ownership of my creative process. I’m someone who likes to blur lines between art and life, so a solo-project has allowed me to integrate personal routine, devotional practice, and seemingly quotidian acts, like the food I cook and the ways I move my body, into the creative process. Read more>>

Joey Relaford-doyle

The first thing that comes to mind is my Sad Girls Series, which is a collection of four collages that I made in 2023 using satellite images of rivers, all around the theme of grief. I’ve experienced a couple tough losses of people close to me, and grief has been a very present part of my life for the past decade. One of the weird things about grief is all the contradictions within it, and before I started making art I really struggled with accepting all these things that felt like they couldn’t all be true at the same time – like how even though grief is excruciating, there is also something so beautiful about feeling the full extent of how much you love someone through the hugeness of their absence. Read more>>

De’von Downes

“ Love Letter to Camden” is an extension of an ongoing project centered on gratitude as a wellness practice. This piece was created as part of the Transitional Arts initiative with New Jersey Transit, specifically at the Walter Rand Station in Downtown Camden. Inspired by both past and present residents of Camden, New Jersey, the project is deeply personal to me—my family is from Camden, and three years ago, I experienced profound loss. I lost my mother, my uncle, my dog, my home, two aunts, and a cousin. Read more>>

Mary Barr Rhodes

My Chalice work has been going on for the past four years and culminated in a group show with seven female artists. Here is a Chalice statement that I wrote for a show along the way. Mary Barr Rhodes is an American artist that makes work that melds, paint, glass, rock, and minerals into universal symbols of the divine feminine.
ˆRhodes works from her own myth of personal origin. She feels responsible to the force living within her. Read more>>

Brendan Gillen

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my debut novel, STATIC, which was released last summer by Vine Leaves Press. The novel took nearly ten years from inception to publication, so I think its existence is, if nothing else, a symbol of what’s possible if you persist, day by day, to work at your craft. It’s also a powerful lesson that the process doesn’t get any easier. It’s cliche, but the journey really is the destination. Read more>>

Zhengwu Gu

The most meaningful project for me is Dandelion, a nearly four-minute animated short film that I co-directed with my creative partner, Ling Zhao. We spent a year working on this film, and it was our first time independently bringing a project to life from start to finish. Its significance lies on multiple levels—this was my directorial debut in animation, and I was deeply involved in every aspect of production. From conceptual design to the final shot, I personally refined and adjusted every detail to ensure it aligned with my artistic vision. Read more>>

Reiko Fujii

My first wearable “Glass Ancestral Kimono” was inspired by a trip I took to Esumi, Japan, in 1999, to pay respects to my paternal ancestors. After visiting the Buddhist temple and cemetery where my ancestors were buried, I walked to the house my father and his family had built sixty-one years before. I was presented with two tattered albums filled with old family photographs. After listening to stories my father remembered about his ancestors in the photographs, I became excited to honor them by fusing some of those photos, along with my mother’s family images, onto glass frames and draping them over a life size kimono-shaped metal armature I had welded together. I designed, made and then wore my first “Glass Ancestral Kimono” in 2002. Read more>>

Lindsay Jordan

I don’t know if it’s the most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on, but I’d love to talk about my newest release “Always”!

I wrote this song after a very difficult break up with someone who struggled badly with alcohol addiction. It was sort of a farewell song as sad as that is, because I had realized that I needed to love this person from afar in order to protect myself. The words “I’ll always be there to love you” aren’t meant to be so literal as, I’ll never leave you, but more that I will always have love for you and wish you well. Sometimes we need to make these decisions to be in control of our own happiness, but leaving does not erase the love you feel. For me, the song is a reminder to put myself first, because I have to live with myself forever. Read more>>

Jerome Gagnon

Amongst all the comics I’ve lettered over the years there are four that holds a very special place un my heart.

The first one is a comic book named Granite State Punk. My friend, writer Travis Gibb, started to talk to me about this project and explain the back story behind it, I knew how personal it was and how much it meant to him. When I started to receive the pages from artist Patrick Buermeyer, I felt I needed to elevate my game to be in par with the art. The book was well received and I got to be nominated for my lettering work at Baltimore ComiCon’s Ringo Awards in 2023. Read more>>

Emma Ohm

The most meaningful project I have worked on is my song, “Treasure” released in 2022. I lovingly refer to Treasure as “We are the World 2022 (or whatever year someone listens in), for many reasons. One being that this song was recorded and performed by musicians and my producer/engineer friend all the way across the world in Zambia. I sang the lead vocal in the States. The second reason behind the additional title is because this song is about unity. It’s about working together to make the world a safer and more loving place for the ones who make the world go round- children. The lyrics are simple, yet profound, easy to understand, yet full of depth if you dig a bit. Read more>>

Jose Reyes

The project that has most profoundly moved me is El Vendaval Amarillo (The Yellow Windstorm). Set against the tumultuous backdrop of Venezuela’s 1938 oil boom, it was much more than just a creative endeavor—it was a journey into the very heart of human resilience. Immersing myself in that pivotal era, I explored how art can capture and preserve the raw, transformative power of history. Read more>>

Afaf Seyam

The most meaningful project and accomplishment of my life has been creating my brand, Boy Vienna. After working in the fashion industry for over 10 years, I had the privilege of collaborating with some incredible brands and designers. I designed for Calvin Klein, Vera Wang, Juicy Couture, and Joan Rivers, developed private label collections for Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue, and built a brand that was sold in top retailers, featured in major publications, and worn by celebrities. Read more>>

Asiana Weddington

I need to start from May 2024… I was on a plane to Guatemala when I hit it off with the man sitting next to me. Months later, a woman sat next to me in a coffee shop and slipped me a business card. It read: “Eva. Psychic Healer.” Then, without prompting, she told me that the man on the plane was my soulmate, and I needed to be with him. Read more>>

Marina Delaney

In 2017, I co-founded the Cayuga Arts Collective (CayAC), an organization that is fiscally sponsored by the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts (TCFA), a cultural center in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Our mission is to build community that fosters creativity in the visual arts. We have an annual show at TCFA that brings in hundreds of visitors and host programs and classes throughout the year. We have grown in number from about fifty charter-members in 2017 to more than one hundred and twenty artist-members today. Read more>>

Tomorris Ellis

Sympathy for the Narcissist. This was my first feature length film. I fully funded, wrote, directed and produced the film. It was beyond scary as I was stepping out on faith. In the midst of filming, there were inconsistencies that were frustrating but ultimately were blessings in disguise. This was a great lesson for life. It taught me that even the frustrating moments are full of purpose and tend to work towards a better outcome. Read more>>

Guru

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my album, Soul Food. I’ve always wanted to incorporate music into my poetry. I love music, and I love to sing, but I’m not the best singer—lol. I can hold a note, but I knew that singing wasn’t my calling. Still, I love music, so I had to find a way to make it my creative outlet. Read more>>

Anita Gonzalez

One of the most meaningful projects I have worked on was taking students from Detroit Michigan to Liverpool in the United Kingdom to study Black communities of the city and create new performance work based upon what they learned about Black presence in the UK. The team included professional artists, community workers, students and Liverpool arts leaders. In teams, the ensemble volunteered with organizations like the Somali Women’s Project, the Green House Community Center, the Africa Oye Festival and the Brouhaha carnival organization. Then they created a new musical performance work about what they learned and what it felt like to be Black working class youth from Detroit collaborating with Black Liverpudlians who were proud of their working class heritage. Read more>>

Dallin Orr

For the past year I’ve had the chance to design and lead a team in the production of a 25 foot stained glass skylight for the Utah State Capitol. The double-domed skylight will feature the four ecosystems of Utah surrounding a blazing sun in the center. While I have been working as a stained glass artist and designer at Holdman Studios for the past decade, this is the first time I’ve had a chance to take my own vision to finish while art directing a team of artists. While I love collaborating creatively, this skylight is unique in the ownership I feel for it. I often feel like my artistic vision must compromise with the clients vision, practicality, or other limitations. Not so with this project! This skylight has been a passion project and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to design and lead such a high-stakes public project. Read more>>

Sheka Houston, Ed.d.

I’ve served in education for 22 years as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and Director of Secondary Interventions at the district level. The most meaningful work I’ve ever done in this field has been advocating for students “sentenced” to Tier 3 education services and special services. Mahatma Gandhi once stated, “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” I believe this to be true for schools and school systems as well. The true measure of their service can be seen in how they treat their most vulnerable members, including students in need of Tier 3 education services and what is called special education services, better coined extended services. Read more>>

Simone Hood

“Big Mood” by Bri Trilla is the biggest project I have ever done so far. I’m so appreciative to be apart of that project and I enjoyed the team. It’s meaningful to me because of her message behind the song. Not only the message, I still remember the first time she sent the song for me to listen. I told her “It sounds like you teaching the ladies about self worth” & she said “Yes” ! Her confidence and her sureness of that song has put so much life into the artwork I made for “Big Mood”. The importance of women knowing there worth when it comes to dealing with men who doesn’t appreciate women. Read more>>

Carter Rubin

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far is my EP that I put out in summer of 2024, “i still know nothing.” It was a direct result of every feeling that came with graduating high school, moving to Nashville with my family, doing music full-time and taking the road less traveled. A lot of times I found myself reflecting on the senior year memories I made in my hometown and seeing my friends go to college made me wonder if life would feel simpler if I took a similar path. I felt like things were moving so fast but I wasn’t letting myself live in the present. It was lonely at times but tapping into those emotions and fears resulted in six songs that I will always be proud of. This EP is meaningful to me because I was able to take my perspective on life, love and everything in between and turn it into a work of art. Read more>>

Sabrina Geffner

The most meaningful film I’ve ever written and directed is Good Enough, a NYIFA award winning short film that explores the universal longing for parental approval and the desperate search for self-worth. It delves into the question—are we ever able to feel ‘good enough’ without this external validation? Read more>>

Israel Garcia

As part of the La Mision Conarte, I have seen the need for reconnection with the roots that the children of first-generation immigrants have.

Being an immigrant is not easy. There are many sacrifices that a person who decides to leave their Country, family, friends, and culture has to make. It is one of the hardest decisions a man or a woman has to put their mind on. To start a new life alone in a foreign country with a different language and around people who don’t look like you is more than intimidating. Now, raising kids in a new environment is even harder, and people tend to make several mistakes, like keeping their kids away from their original language and culture so that they can adapt better to this new society. Read more>>

Sharon Caton Brunson

I’ve always wanted to share my photography through a large coffee table book, but as I looked into actually publishing, I realized this format was cost-prohibitive. This led me to embark on one of the most meaningful projects I have worked on – a small, self-published book called ‘PLAIN CONVERSATIONS: Ghosts of Waterville, Washington.’ Read more>>

Mitch Hampton

Probably the project with the highest value and meaning for me has been my arts podcast. My unusual childhood and adolescence in which I was exposed to the largest variety of performing arts in New York City and a good ten to twenty years spent reading many books, largely from the so-called canon, made me want to share with the wider world what I have learned from all of that. Additionally, I developed an insight, roughly after September 11th, concerning the essential unity of all of he arts and culture. Read more>>

Brian Level

As far as tattooing is concerned, the more meaningful projects have less to do with the tattoo itself and more the experience of making it. The client, the time we spend together. Those more meaningful ones are usually large format pieces where I get to spend more time with the person. We get to really connect. I see most of my tattoo clients as potential friends. They mean a lot to me. Read more>>

Jax Jackman

I have been a professional theatre artist for over 20 years. I have done multiple World, New York and Regional premieres throughout my career that I am proud to be a part of. I am multifaceted as a theatre artist as I am a stage manager, actor, choreographer, director and designer. I have also utilized the skills I have learned in theatre and expanded my talents to perform and produce drag and variety shows, I have been fortunate to work different major projects like managing the Broadway performances for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade to curating the entertainment for Salt Lake City’s inaugural grassroots community pride festival, SLC Pride. Read more>>

Jonathan Melnick

I am currently a couple of years into producing a documentary with my best friend Blake about his father Beau, or Bogie. Blake and I met during a summer film workshop at Cleveland High School about twenty years ago. He and I were the editors of the student film, and we spent the whole summer immersed in its production. We developed a friendship that has managed to endure to this day.  After high school, Blake went to The Academy of Art in S.F., and I took a less direct path of becoming self-taught. We always talked about one day creating something meaningful together. Enter Bogie, the culmination of a nearly lifelong friendship coming full circle to its origins in filmmaking. Read more>>

Fascin8

My most meaningful project has to be my most recent album “Hidden Gemz Vol. 1”. This project was supposed to be a collab album with me and artist SunnOfRa rapping over other people’s beats. Our engineer’s laptop was stolen, and we lost all the work. During our rebuild process, SunnOfRa decided to start producing his own beats. We felt the producers around us had their favorite artists who had dibs on their best work. This way we could get the best of the best, have our own style, and not have to pay people. So instead of rapping, he produced the entire project. Read more>>

Spignotta Milam

I wrote a poem and dedicated it to my Grandfather Dennis Williamson.The poem was titled:Foot Warmer. Back story my grandfather was born a:slave in:Denmark TN 2 years before slavery was abolished. His mother had been raped by the slave owner and he was a product of that rape.. As a baby they would bring him from the slave quarters at night and lay him across the feet of his father and his father’s wife at night in the winter time to keep their feet warm. Read more>>