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.

Nir Tsfaty

Honestly, every project I participate in is meaningful to me, so it’s pretty hard to choose a specific one. One of the most inspiring projects I’ve been working on recently is a soundtrack for a short film by Israeli director Yaniv Linton. Yaniv and I first met when he directed a music video for my previous band, Bell Always, in 2018, and we have kept in touch since – when I was still living in Israel and later after we moved to Australia. Read more>>

Jamie Rodriguez

The most meaningful project is the same as our overall mission statement. How can I unconditionally love and support the music community, my family and my friends? With this principle guiding everything we do at Jrodconcerts Media, we have been able to connect with important creative voices and Artists, with light and love to give. Read more>>

Diamond P

Two of the most meaningful projects that I’ve worked on and still working on til this day is the Gun Violence Awareness Project & the Breast Cancer Awareness Project. November 27th changed my life completely. I was in the process of moving to a new residence and picking up my daughter from school when I received a phone call from some detectives, at that moment questions was asked and they needed to meet up with me. Read more>>

Gavin Lee

When I wrote and recorded my song The Beginning of Me. Because everything in the song is true. It is a real life events. A Ballad that is about me and my life. Read more>>

Jackie Harrington, III

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on would be all of the projects I’ve filmed with celebrity R&B artist Donell Jones. As a little kid growing up in urban areas, little brown and black boys mostly aspired to be athletes or rappers. I knew I wanted to be a creative. To create visuals and to film. When I got my first celebrity client Donell Jones it proved to me that something that appeared to be so farfetched became a reality for me. Someone who I grew up listening to his music I was able to follow him around to some of his events and create visuals. It proved to me that nothing is obtainable, and I could do anything if I stay consistent. Read more>>

Pamela Tuckey

I am currently in the midst of a campaign to celebrate and showcase 40 women over 40. The photos I’ve taken of my women and the stories I’ve heard are just incredible. Many tears have been shed. Read more>>

Maybe Stewart

I consider myself immensely lucky in that I have quite a few projects which come to mind, but I’ll go with the most recent. Back in 2018, The Bridge Initiative (TBI) approached me about creating a new work that focuses on the theme of gender expansiveness. I was thrilled by the prospect, and agreed to work with them on creating something new. Over the following year, that seed grew into a unique concept of a play (JUST BE) that threw aside both theatrical and gender norms, using the narrative of my trans journey as a jumping off point — an utterly horrifying concept for a playwright that prefers their roles to happen off screen. Read more>>

Adriana Jay

Last year, I took a leap of faith and re-painted my very first storefront mural in the Wynwood arts district. I painted the entire thing black⁠ to give myself a literal reset. It was hard to stand in front of my art, knowing full well that I was going to wipe out in seconds what previously took me days and days to create. But it was harder to ignore everything else: that I had endured a crazy pandemic, that perfectionism wasn’t going to keep me prisoner, and that part of evolving means rewriting the narrative. Read more>>

Helen Buck

It is no secret that most artists and creatives find their most recent or their current project the most exciting. This is likely because the process requires emersion; a real getting-in-touch-with the message. My current project working title is “Journey” and is the emotional and physical healing process of the past year. This journey is a study of vulnerability. The first step in approaching this series was to identify exactly how the journey started and then how it related to my life as a whole; obstacles, triumphs, lessons, and achievements. That was a lot to unpack considering that my physical health was at stake as this journey began. I was diagnosed 8 months ago with an aggressive form of cancer. Read more>>

Karla Baptiste

The most meaningful project that I’ve been involved with is my breast cancer memoir. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 34. During my treatment journey, I learned about the alarming statistics for African American women. We are diagnosed at a younger age and at a later stage than other races of women and we are more likely to die from the disease. Once I learned about this disparity, I wanted to share my story in hopes of building awareness for the disease and to dispel some of the fear that prevents Black women from going to the doctor. Read more>>

Greg Taylor

Being a photographer I create tons of memories for my clients and usually thats where it ends. I always want to do more but had no idea how or where to go with it. I had been using Canva and other digital creation tools for a few months at this point, making digital flyers and poking around but not really diving really deep into them until one client unknowingly issued a challenge to me. We were doing a portrait session for her small business and we started talking about marketing as we’re both small business owners. Read more>>

Austin Kerr

I have always been passionate about all I do whether it’s art or custom finishes/ restoration on furniture but around 7 years ago I had a transformative experience spiritually that helped me have a more meaningful mission with my work. I wanted to redirect my efforts from self-serving work to work aimed at bring peace, healing and a better quality of life to those around my work. An example of this for my art, growing up creating antique reproduction finishes on furniture I quickly realized the comfort old and vintage pieces give. Read more>>

Mysti Smith

“Want Love”?… Will by far be the best project I have ever been involved in. Want Love?.. is a very dramatic filled relationship journey for those who struggle with setting boundaries in a loving way. For me in particular, this project is pretty incredible because it is one that I have co-written with my husband, Brad. Read more>>

Danielle Castrence

The most meaningful project we’ve ever worked on was our music video for “Run Free”. This music video stemmed from our shared experiences with the neurodiverse community. Growing up, we had all witnessed the atrocious behavior many kids had towards children with different abilities. They were picked on and sneered at. It continues to be an overlooked issue that not many people are not talking about enough. Read more>>

Reggie Blaze

One of the most personally important projects I’ve ever done, was a record early on in my career. The record was titled “Black Roses” entailed the struggles and observations experienced living in the city I grew up in – with drugs, addiction, and crime growing as we grew up, we came to find our own loved ones falling victim to the effects of these things, This record was dedicated to a friend of mine who passed away, unfortunately to an overdose at the age of 19… I am currently working on getting the record remastered and cleared to be released on all platforms. Read more>>

Carolina King

The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on has been Arts for Smiles. The idea of an organization to help children and others came to me while I was president of the Wellington Art Society from 2018-2020 and in the midst of the Covid 19 crisis. On March of 2019 I was able to organize an outreach program and bring art to children at the hospital. Our first visit was April 4, 2019 and my life was forever changed. Read more>>

Sara Salih

The most meaningful project I worked on was a PSA that I directed and edited called Heal The Cause. The PSA’s purpose was to spread awareness on sexual abuse statistics for females in the U.S. This project premiered opening night of the Women In Film Topaz Festival in 2019. To me the most meaningful work is any kind of project that sheds light on important issues in our society that don’t get the attention they deserve. Those are the pieces that awaken, educate, and inspire. Read more>>

Amira Shaunice

I have a particular talent for telling personal and emotional stories. In 2014, I made my directorial debut with New York Girls, a web series that reflected my circle of friends: lesbian women searching for love while establishing their careers in the big apple. It became the first lesbian web series filmed in NYC with an all-Black cast. To date it’s my most meaningful project because it redefines what it means to be young, black, and queer in America. With each project I create, I want to show that LGBTQ experiences are not a foreign thing because of our sexual preference. Read more>>

Cam Schuessler

I’m so grateful to have developed my latest style of work because each and every commission is extremely meaningful! It’s been about a year since I decided to combine all of my favorite styles and materials into one body of work and channel it into my artwork. I’ve always been searching for a way to create work that has meaning deeper than what appears on the canvas, and I want the owner of the artwork to know something about it that the average person does not. Read more>>

Robert Bryant

Right now, I think my most meaningful project to date is the book that I just sent off for publishing entitled “HOW TO BE A FELON”. I did my best to offer up all the lessons I have learned over the last 9 years while having my record expunged and my rights reinstated. It follows my journey all the way from a $10/hr job to my current 6-figure salaried position and how I got here. I tried to offer a wealth of meaningful quotes and lessons that I have learned the hard way. Read more>>

Estella Bangura

I have had the pleasure and honor of writing my first book: “The Awakening: My Journey from Darkness to Light”. This book chronicles my experiences and transition from a place of great darkness, of mental and spiritual depravity, from harm and potential death, into a place and a plateau of peace and fulfilment, and the satisfaction and manifestation of personal destiny; becoming a positive influence in others’ lives and a light for those in similar dark circumstances to follow. Read more>>

Austen Paul

This company is a start up that might change the world, they invented a device that allows firefighters to see through smoke in burning buildings and maps and outlines their surroundings. I have a great working relationship with the owner because when I first started out and wanted to become a filmmaker he hired me to help edit a documentary of him and his crew diving into active volcanoes. Read more>>

Dan Weiss

The Left Coast Quintet was really formed for us to have a creative outlet to perform music. There are ebbs and flows to paid music opportunities in San Diego, sometimes there are lots of gigs, sometimes few, so having the quintet allowed us to control our own destiny of sorts – to put ourselves in a position that we could perform whenever we wanted to, and we could control the music. As we’ve become better known in the community, people started reaching out to us to provide live music at their weddings, and that is by far the most meaningful event that we could provide music at. Read more>>

SP Juice

The most meaningful project that I have worked on recently is titled “Juice For Breakfast , Volume 3”. “Juice for breakfast” represents a mixtape series that I started in 2018, however this most recent volume, that is slated to release April 20th, has extra sentimental value for several reasons. The first reason is that it is releasing on my birthday. Birthday releases are something I like to do every single year. My special day doesn’t feel right if I haven’t contributed new music as a small gift to the world and myself, to immortalize my presence and note my growth as an artist and an individual. Read more>>

Kasey Render

The most meaningful project that I have worked on was my first book BWPE: A Conversation With Yourself. I wrote this book in 2014 while still in college. At this time in my life, I was figuring myself out. It was my first time living away from home and learning how to become a man. BWPE stands for Blind With Perfect Eyes. I believe that we all have the ability to be happy. I believe we all have the perseverance in us to push through our struggles. Often times we become distracted with the curve balls life throws us. If we have those internal conversations with ourselves we will notice our true purpose. Read more>>

Emily Potts

The most meaningful project I have worked on to date is my MFA thesis exhibition “Healing & Reassembling”. In this body of work, I focus to overcome the assumption that in order to heal something has to be completely resolved within the self. Instead, I offer that healing is an undescribed area, that is unmeasurable, and it is forever evolving and never finished. I believe that healing is an ongoing process, never fully attained. This is replicated in the imperfect nature of the objects I make. I am not interested in chasing after a memory and seeking its validity or truth as a representation of what actually happened. I am however interest Read more>>

T-Huny

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve been working on is my album called “Life on Paper”; executed produced by Herb Middleton (Grammy Nominated and Multi-Platinum Producer and the Founder of Moontown Records and Publishing.) This project is important to me because it stands for change to bring awareness to Domestic Violence and also other issues many may face worldwide. In this album, I will be expressing how I’ve navigated through many trials and tribulations such as Domestic Violence, hardships, adversity and more. Read more>>

Tammy Thomas

The most meaningful project I have ever worked on was creating crocheted dolls for cancer patient survivors. I crochet for other causes, but none are more important to me than making a person that is going through so much pain, feel loved and needed. During COVID, I had so many friends that were going through treatment for cancer and I could not visit. I had to let them know that they were on my mind so I started crocheting dolls that looked like them and sent them with a note to tell them how much they were missed and that they had the strength to persevere. Read more>>