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.
Candace Howe
When Covid hit New York City I worked in healthcare and had to close my photography business down while we got things under control. From both sides I saw how devastating this time was for mothers who had to navigate delivering their babies during a global pandemic and how it affected their entire experience. Once we were allowed to reopen I launched a campaign to help women celebrate becoming Mothers during this dismal time with a special maternity session just for them to remind them of the magic in motherhood and it brought joy to them and me all the same. Read more>>
German Vazquez
for me one of the most meaningful project to date has been “Jardin Del Pecado” Growing up in Puerto Rico, an island with very strong and deep rooted religious beliefs. Which created a fear to be your true authentic self , due to societal and religious oppression towards the LGBTQ+ Community and as I began to explore stories similar to my own experiences within the Queer community, Ive noticed that it was maybe time change the narrative. Read more>>
Micah Turnbough
I have loved Christmas for as long as I can remember. The decorations, shopping, the hustle and bustle, and especially the music. It has been a long-time dream of mine to put together a Christmas show and a solo Christmas album. In 2019, I was able to have both in the same year. Most of what I do throughout the year is performing as a soloist. Still, I brought in my awesome musician friends for this show and put together some music for an unforgettable experience. Read more>>
Catie Hadro
I more-so want to talk about meaningful projects in general, because in a creative profession it is incredibly important to continue doing passion projects aside from your paid clients. Most everyone who gets into photography does it because they enjoy it and I have personally felt frustrated with myself in the past for getting busy with paid clients that I’m forgetting the creative motivation I had in the first place. Read more>>
Stephen A. Hart
In my 20s, my sole pursuit was material. I wanted to be a millionaire by time I was 30. And I did become a millionaire at 30, but lost it all 3 months into being 31 … and 3 weeks after getting married. My business lost several million dollars in the summer of 2008. Read more>>
Yafei Liu
I used to have a vague resistance to places like Chinatown and Chinatown. I can feel the absurdity in my photos in DC, Chinatown, and Flushing. It’s like pasting two perfectly balanced paintings together, and it’s hard to say how twisted it is. Imagine the old men we often see sitting around playing chess on the side of the road in China being moved to a city park in New York, with tables and people, American-style buildings in the background, and flocks of fat pigeons feeding around them. Read more>>
Klein Wong
For better or worse, I try to find meaning in every project I’ve worked on. But the most meaningful one to date has been this feature-length screenplay that I wrote called, “RUN FAST, TURN LEFT”. It almost feels silly to consider a screenplay a “project” – ’cause my brain goes right to the other aspects of any production, like filming and post-production. But as someone who loves storytelling, and cares deeply about creating a compelling story, I feel like the scriptwriting process becomes its own thing. It’s got a life of its own. Read more>>
Taylor Rossi
In my work as a photographer, I’ve found time and time again that when clients come to me, they’re most often having their first professional photoshoot session (not including their senior photos for their high school yearbook) or are generally nervous and uncomfortable during photoshoots. While I’ve had a great number of incredibly meaningful sessions, like getting flown out to North Dakota to photograph an engagement and elopement for a friend, what always be the most gratifying experience is hearing clients say at the end of their session that they actually had fun and felt comfortable with me. Read more>>
Amanda Kosior
I originally started my blog, North Dakota Nice, as a way to share weekly articles about people’s everyday kindnesses in North Dakota. One week, I decided to supplement those articles with a short story of my own (about wearing a winter snowsuit under a Halloween costume where I was dressed like a cheerleader). Later that day, I received a note from one of my regular readers that said, “I loved your story; it brightened my day.” Read more>>
Jimmy Dasaint
I wrote and directed a film called NOBODY’S Son, it’s currently showing on Tubi. The story is about a gifted young boy roaming around in the mean Philly streets. It’s a very personal story because so much of it are true life experiences. Read more>>
David Boynton
One year ago, my Dad passed away. He was sick and had been in a home for a while and we knew his time was growing short, but ya never really see it coming do you? We got the dreaded call that if we wanted to see him one more time, we needed to leave ASAP! Being in Oklahoma, the drive to Florida was 18 hours so we packed the RV and hit the road and drove through the night non-stop… we missed him by 3 hours. Read more>>
Marla Klein
I’ve been creating a personal project for the past six years called The Metamorphosis Project. It’s a black and white portrait series of peoples’ gender transitions as they grow and change mentally, physically, and socially over time. With it, I have published three books (the latest came out last month!), photographed twenty people in-studio, and showcased so many stories. The project gives trans people confidence during a time of their lives that can be difficult and full of unknowns, as well as educates the public about the many different ways you can be transgender. Read more>>
Soulliaa Rae
Healing is a journey that is self-prescribed. We have to decide in ourselves and for ourselves if it is worthwhile to embark on its path and be willing to face the music that comes with it. I am Soulliaa Rae, MSW, MS, MA a songwriting songstress and mental wellness and equity expert. In 2020 I fully committed to my own healing journey, which has proven to be far different than supporting others on their own. Read more>>
Ted Hajnasiewicz
I think, the most meaningful project I’ve worked on, is my album “It’s Fine”. To be honest, I didn’t know I’d say that, when making it. All of the songs but one were written during the 2nd year of the pandemic, amidst social and societal unrest. But also, in the middle of this, I lost my mother. I lost a dear friend to suicide. A family member also was going through heavy times, which we all felt. It was all – at once. Read more>>
Gail Gensler
Fitness Representation and Midlife Models: What I Bring to the Table When you walk through any store that sells fitness apparel or you see an online ad what do you see? Odds are, you see models and ambassadors showcasing the gear that you’ll find in the store. Presently, many different types of people are represented. We currently have inclusivity with gender, ethnicity, size, disabilities sexual orientation- representation in the fitness industry has improved by leaps and bounds over the past decade or so. (Generally, these are models- not necessarily people who ACTUALLY work out.) Read more>>
Andrew Beltz
The Adventures of BDE 1. The first project our group put out as a band. It took months to craft the identity and brand of BDE. BDE is all about promoting positive life, mind, and vibes. It’s also about embracing who you are to the fullest and giving yourself the confidence to show that to the world. This project summarized our first year as a group between the fun loving side and the passion in-between. The Adventures of BDE 2. The second project where we added our most recent artist to our group, Odd Coal . Read more>>
Janae Harris
Creating a foundation for the community where I can educate about my passions and teach how to create their own customized crystal healing jewelry while learning the history and benefits of each stone. It’s been such an honor to share my community what has healed me from physical pain & depression. Read more>>
Kym De Los Reyes
So the most meaningful project i have worked on has been very personal and very recent. I had the opportunity to expand the size of my studio and rent a (much needed) larger space. Moving studios was something I had been planning on doing if and when the right space came along that was ideal. So the funny thing was, when I finally found the perfect space, I suddenly got cold feet and very nervous about expanding. Read more>>
Jake Luttrell
Like many musicians I am cursedly forward thinking, so I’ll be answering this question with a future, unreleased project. This is a song I’m proud of, and after winning a long battle with my confidence as a producer will be releasing as my first self-produced project on streaming platforms (Spotify, etc.): a pop/soul single called “Count on You”. Read more>>
Brittany Marley
In 2014, I released a Contemporary Gospel EP called, “God’s Got It”. Growing up, I would write songs all the time and sing them with my friends. I would assign verses according to their personalities and what they could do vocally. It was wild! Back then, I was a huge Aaliyah fan! Xscape and TLC were definitely in the mix, so my songs geared more towards R&B. But gospel music was always on the playlist in the house as well. My dad was in a local gospel group so, there was no escaping it! Read more>>
Jennifer Davila
My fused glass art is my most meaningful art I work with. My late Aunt Nina used to work with fused glass and I have taken over this craft that was introduced to me. I learned how to do it when she became very ill and couldn’t really teach me other than tell me how things worked. Every time I work with glass I light my candles, say my prayers, and talk to God just like she did. I am very grateful to be able to create witj this medium. Read more>>
Taffiney Williams
The most meaningful project that I’ve worked on is Would You Marry You. The backstory is interesting as it began with me deciding I wanted to get remarried. I had a long list of spiritually mature characteristics I was praying for when God asked me the question that birth the movement. What started as a deep dive through scripture to understand marriage, led me to understanding what it meant to be a wife, which led to what it meant to be a daughter and citizen of the Kingdom of God. Read more>>
Marcos Lutyens
The Rose River Memorial is the most meaningful project that I have worked on recently. The project has involved making a felt rose in the community. Ine for each person that has died from Covid. It has been a long and arduous project but has brought healing to thousands of people throughout the US. The combination of art and healing is very gratifying as an artist, and this project has enabled me to reach into communities that are beyond the usual boundaries of the art world.. Read more>>
Amanda Kazzy” Cryer”
I experience a profound sense of fulfillment when I contribute to others. As a social impact influencer, I root my messaging in universal values of compassion, dignity, equity, and peace. If a prospective client is not grounded in universal values yet, I will work with them to find their unique connection – What do they stand for? What positive changes do they want to make in the world? What problems do they want to solve in their community, city, country and globally? Read more>>
Darin Darby
The most meaningful project that I’ve worked on is an exhibition that I curated in 2021. While in quarantine during the 2020 pandemic, I started several art series. The one that I was most excited about was the BAM series. The BAM series was inspired by the Blacks Arts Movement that occurred between 1965 and 1975. My art mentor has always encouraged me to create art in my time period and the Black Arts Movement is part of my period. Read more>>
Nae’Keisha Jones
First I’ll say I had the pleasure of working on quite a few meaningful projects within the past two years and I am in awe of them every time I look back on them or see them shared on social media. The most recent has been a book assignment I am working on I get to not only illustrate the stories of the youth in a five-series books series by creating the visual concepts, but I also get the opportunity to create themed black and white spot (small) illustrations inside the book as well. Read more>>
jayfed (Johnny Fedorenko)
I’ve recently produced and released my first music video for a song that I wrote years back. I’ve been pregnant with the idea for the video for a long time, so to finally sit down and bring it to life was truly fulfilling. In short, I wanted a video with the full band playing the song, along with scenes happening in multiple locations, with animated sequences throughout the video. Read more>>
Devin Sunshine
I’ve got kind of a two fold answer here, but they’re both very significant projects to me for different reasons. The first project worth mentioning is the Freaks Edge EP I put out this year with my best friend and co-mastermind Salem Strikes. We started this duo this summer, kind of accidentally. Salem asked me to feature on one of his songs, “Snooze” and it ended up being a BANGER of a song, that went over really well with both of our audiences. Read more>>
Mara Jenkins
This Salon/Collective is the most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on. For so much of my life I’ve felt very lost. Never felt like I REALLY fit in anywhere although I did become pretty good at faking it. I always knew my brain worked in a slightly different way than my “successful” friends. I watched the people around me pursuing their passions… something in myself I had yet to discover. Read more>>
Erika Murcia
[Laugh Out Loud] When I hear this question, the first thing that comes to my heart is, rematriar, rematriating to the Self. Returning to the Wild Essence in Body, Mind, and Spirit is the most meaningful creative piece I’ve co-created. Other significant creative projects have been birthed from that state and sense of rootedness. Read more>>
Dar James
My family and I had a very challenging Covid year. Pretty much overnight, my entire schedule of outbound teaching, shows and exhibits were canceled, my partner lost his job, the house we were living in and had hoped to buy was sold out from under us and my children’s father died of cancer, all while the world was collectively reeling from this serious public health emergency. Read more>>
David Brown
Our debut EP, titled Paradise, was released in 2020. We started the pre-production process in late 2018, and began recording in early 2019. We worked with a producer Matt Goldman and a team of 23+ musicians throughout a variety of studios including Oceanway, Columbia, and RCA to create the ambitious sound in Paradise. The first single, “Goodbye,” dropped in March of 2020 – it was met with some interesting challenges. Read more>>
Yolanda Watson
Back in September of 2022, I finished working on my debut EP (Soda) in collaboration with a professional recording studio in Massachusetts (Plaid Dog Recording). Soda is a compilation of some of my very first songs— I wrote them with my ukulele in 2018/2019. When I first began performing at different venues around NYC, people would often ask where they could listen to my songs and were disappointed when I told them that I’d yet to record them. Read more>>
Miles Stokes
The most meaningful project that I have worked on to date would be a Tennessee tornado relief drive I did. In March 2020 the world was turned on this year, especially for us in Tennessee. I live in the Donelson/Hermitage area and on top of COVID-19 and the new guidelines in protocols being in place we had a tornado that put a lot of people out of their homes and left a lot of people without electricity and other essentials. Read more>>
Zuri
The most meaningful project I have worked on to date would be my trilogy, lotus the poetry book, ep & documentary. Meaningful because I feel like we all have a story to tell and in our story lies our success story. We often focus on the negative of what happened to us and although we do have to overcome a lot as human beings, we forget the individuals we get to become. Read more>>
My Best Friend is Black
My Best Friend is Black is an all Black comedy variety show focused on celebrating Black comedic performers based in Chicago, Illinois. We started our because there weren’t many comedy spaces in Chicago that were focused on bringing Black people lightness and joy while also showing that Black people aren’t a monolith. One of our producers, Marcus ranted about this after a frustrating open mic and the next day, another producer Mike texted him saying that he’d be down to create that space ourselves. Read more>>
Jen Rainin
When I married Franco Stevens, I knew she had started Curve magazine but I didn’t know the whole history. Over the first years of our marriage, she would drop little nuggets in my lap about cashing out 12 credit cards in one day and betting everything at the racetrack to fund the magazine, or going to loansharks to make payroll, or being sued by Catherine Deneuve. I realized this was a fantastic story that would make a terrific narrative film, so I set about writing a screenplay. But as I researched, I quickly realized how little of queer women’s history has been documented and saw Read more>>
Zaymahlee
My first EP under my legal name Brooke Thompson. The title was “Cotton Candy Dream”. It was 6 songs I released as a project in 2019. This project was special to me personally because it was a huge part of my personal growth. It was part of my healing process coming into adulthood. There were a lot of things in that project that I was afraid of saying out loud to other people and also to myself. Read more>>
Tamara Moan
I worked collaboratively with another artist, Denise Karabinus, to produce a body of work for an exhibit. Our theme was to explore aspects of hula, using a particular song–“Ka Uluwehi o ke Kai”–as our starting point. The song speaks of various limu (seaweed) so our research included seaweed investigations as well as hula history, hula implements, hula movements, and patterns. Read more>>
Aminah Hughes
As a filmmaker and photographer, I’m very much focused on beauty. On compelling imagery and visual storytelling. As a writer, the running theme in my work, whether through poetry, prose, songs or screenplays, seems to be trauma recovery. For me, the magic happens when I get to combine those two passions. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to work on a few projects that were able to give voice to an important issue. They’re the projects that I’m most proud of. Read more>>
Patrick Dennis
As a professional painter, I’ve enjoyed many unique projects. I’ve painted for solo and group exhibitions, I’ve traveled extensively to show my works and have received meaningful validation and compensation. But perhaps most meaningful of all has been my work for specific clients to create a commissioned piece of art for their environment. Read more>>
Alley Auchter
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on has been live wedding painting. Not only is it so special to paint a couple on the happiest day of their lives, but the aspect of being there live, feeling the love firsthand and participating in their special day is such a meaningful and emotional experience. Read more>>
Christian Alexander
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my newest play, ELASTIC MIND. The play is so important to me because I’ve been trying to self-produce the play since 2020. I’ve had 2 productions be cancelled prior to my new run in Chicago. Even the Chicago run has had some substantial complications. However, this story is so beautiful and nothing makes me happier than watching a group of talented actors make my dreams real. Read more>>
Lingxue Hao
I would like to talk about the project Moon Phase: The Moments Between Wax and Wane. It is the project I developed during my MFA degree at Savannah College of Art and Design in photography major. It is an interpretation of depression through the art of photography. My photographs explore my own experiences with this invisible disease. Read more>>
Mikeisha Kelly
A project that has been the most meaningful to work on has been the Penn Relays. In 2022, Penn Relays hired me to design the program and do on-site social media and video. The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track, and field competition in the United States, hosted annually at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Read more>>
Denni Kindred
Launching Feral One Records has been my most meaningful project lately. I’ve had success producing and DJing on my own path but I would see Seattle producers, who are incredibly talented DJs as well, get cold shouldered much as I would early on. What made that more difficult to witness, is that the producers here are often risk takers and hone in on a unique sound. This is the underground’s purpose and what it’s starving for. Read more>>
Corri English
I’m currently a co-creator/co-host of the podcast Hi My Name Is Mom.. it started as a passion project – 3 moms, sharing real life stuff with each other in private, and deciding the therapeutic convos we were having might just be helpful to other mamas in the thick of the isolation, confusion, fatigue, and unquestionably WORTH IT job of being called MOM. We pulled a mic up to our very unfiltered conversations, and have been going that for over 100 episodes. Read more>>
Tymm Hoffman
This is a super hard thing to narrow down – I think I have a tie between two projects. In January of 2008 I answered the hardest phone call I think I have ever or will ever receive. The woman on the other end of the phone – a social worker at the adoption we were using to finalize the adoption to bring our son home from Ethiopia – had to deliver some tough news. Read more>>
Jackson Beasley
Our newest single, “Sunshine in the Rain”, was actually written back in 2014. We released the song on our 2015 EP “Here We Go Again’ but always thought we might give it another shot in the future with different production. The original version of the song was very stripped down with only 2 guitars, 2 voices, and a harmonica. We started performing the song live and trying out different things until we found something we were happy with performing with the full band. Read more>>
Sarah Williams
My work is a response to my personal experiences of my home region in the Midwest. I see life as preparation for the way I paint and the work I am currently making. Even though my connection to the small town farm culture that shaped me as I grew up played a major role in how I approach these works, I believe it can speak to people from a variety of places and experiences. I use my paintings as a way to honor my own regional history which I will always tie to my upbringing in north Missouri. Read more>>
Asia Jones
One of the most meaningful projects that I’ve ever worked on was during the heart of the pandemic. I was tasked with producing a 3-day photoshoot for a very important client in September of 2020 with the expectation that the project would be fully launched by November. There were several long, brutal hours put into making the project a success before and after the September photoshoot deadline. Read more>>
Laurence de Valmy
Summit Public Art Art Girl Rising Read more>>
Kelly Sarri
I am Kelly Sarri, an LA-based filmmaker originally from Greece. I started in the industry as an editor and now I am transitioning more into directing and producing. I have worked on a different variety of projects, from music videos to short films to promo videos. My latest accomplishment is that I created the first fictional digital series exclusively for IG and Tik Tok (at least in the US) called Gynarchy. Read more>>
Jamie Baldanza
The most meaningful project I have ever worked on is the pilot episode to the docu-series, “Wild Lands Wild Horses.” For many years I hustled in NYC as am advertising Art Director / Creative Director working on big brands. While I was doing this I felt like something was missing, and that something was my connection to animals and nature. Read more>>
Michelle Cramer
I’ve always been into photography. When I was a child, my grandmother bought me a camera and my first rolls of film (yes, back in the days before DSLR). She would end up developing several rolls a month because I would just go crazy taking pictures (often saying “what have I gotten myself into?!”). Photography remained a hobby for me until 2007 when, at a close relatives wedding, Read more>>
Samantha Shakes
I feel so lucky to help people turn their dreams and ideas into reality. I am eternally grateful for all of my clients just for giving me the opportunity to do what I truly feel is my purpose. I’ve been fortunate enough to work on many meaningful projects from assisting nonprofit organizations to helping my parents launch their dream business. Read more>>
Tanya Johnson
Probably the most meaningful item I created to date was a bracelet set for a trans child and parent that said “Protect Trans Youth”. They lived in Florida and I had a hard time fighting back tears of joy creating this set for these lovely people. Read more>>
Reg Zehner
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve done is All Day Blackness, a two-day arts festival in Columbus, OH that commenced in July of 2022. All Day Blackness started out in 2021 as a two-day radio program featuring Black creatives through music and podcast. For the 2022 session, All Day Blackness became an in-person program with artist workshops, panel discussions, DJ events, and free communal food events. The project was hosted under the Wexner Center for the Arts, No Place Gallery, and 934 Gallery where I received immense support. Read more>>