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.

Eliza May

My new song “Empress” that was released on February 17th is a powerful and uplifting anthem for women everywhere. The lyrics of the song encourage self-empowerment, self-love and self-acceptance, sending a powerful message to all the women out there who are breaking barriers and making their mark on the world. Read more>>

Shana Gourdine

My most mean full project is putting together a domestic violence awareness event called “We Survivor ” . Allowing individuals that never knew anything about domestic violence and abuse being able to educate themselves on the trauma , warning signs, and how they can help victims. Allowing individuals that were victims to tell their story and gain their power back. Read more>>

Teresa Suydam

A lot of my meaningful projects have involved working with other people. Collaborating is something I never knew I could find joy in until I tried it. For instance, I have a song coming out with a good friend of mine, Tyler McMaster. Our song is called “Under the Lights”, and from start to finish, was completed entirely remotely. Read more>>

Jennifer Schmidt

One of the most meaningful projects that I have worked on is one that I recently worked on and happens to be my biggest projects. This past Fall/Winter I had the opportunity to create a gown for the Grammys! Earlier in the year, 3x Billboard Top 10 Blues Albums artist Katie Knipp asked me if I wanted to make her dress for the Grammys so I of course I said yes! Read more>>

Maria Brito

I am currently developing a series of artworks that portray the struggle of my people, their suffering, and the attachment to symbols and religion that serve as elements of strength and identity for Venezuelans. This project began with three pieces that were exhibited for Hispanic Heritage Month (2022) in the “Estamos Aqui” exhibition at BlackRock Center for the Arts. Read more>>

Cameron Cardoza

I am constantly working on the next ‘thing’. Whether it be submissions for film festivals or personal passion projects, my number one goal is to leave a mark on the world- no matter how small. Being able to collaborate with friends and share my creations, albeit not perfect, has given me a purpose I can’t imagine living without. Read more>>

Ja’shaun Rowden

The album that will always stay close to my heart is my debut project ‘2023: The Album’. An album that took over a year and depicts all aspects of my evolution as an artist and a person. I started the project when I had first started taking music seriously with By Any Mean’s owner & engineer Gigi. ‘What You What (Gigi Brought Me Lemonade)’ was the first few songs recorded and immediately made its mark as iconic is my eyes. Read more>>

Jacqueline Doyle Allison

My painting series from 2020 through 2023 have been sequential and have been a continued focus on finding the positive in every situation; even if that is sometimes a difficult process. My current painting series, which was just released in February 2023, is titled “Silver Linings,” and reminds us that there is always a silver lining in every cloud. The important thing is to remind ourselves to look! Read more>>

Julie Raven

The most meaningful project I’ve been working on and continue to work on is my Tarot set. I got my first Tarot deck when I was somewhere between 11-13 years old, and have been learning the meanings of the cards since. I still don’t have everything memorized and I’m not fully intuitive in my tarot reads at this point, but the cards have been a huge part of my spiritual journey. Read more>>

MEGAN REED

My most meaningful project is also the one that is still in progress. During one of my photography courses in college, I started a project called Aftertaste where I took self-portraits that embodied my personal experience with sexual assault. My intent was to expand on this project and work with other people who have a similar experience and eventually create a photo book with images, as well as interviews with the subjects of the photos. Read more>>

Reza Alhosseini

Mocking Mass Media series is one of my most recent paintings series that I have worked on in the past 5 years. The catastrophic civil wars that happened in the Middle East in the past eight years inspired me to create this painting. When I follow the mainstream media news, it is full of tragedies and I ask myself what nuances helped to make them happen. Allow me to present my work before I examine it through the lens of contemporary philosophy and art. Read more>>

Bäsmini Hayes

The Emergencies Project. I feel it’s my favorite by far because of the amount of emotion, work, and thought that goes into creating the entire thing. It’s my most open-minded, sentimental, and overall beautiful piece I’ve created. Read more>>

Neko Jiang

In the year 2020, I embarked on a creative journey that culminated in the creation of my very own graphic novel, which I titled “Allergen.” This project was a significant part of my visual thesis for my graduate studies. The central narrative of the story revolves around the growth and development of a peculiar relationship between a caterpillar with a cat face and a nude girl, which ultimately leads to a profound understanding of trust. Read more>>

Isis Kenney

My work is educational, inspirational and captures the social and political environment we live in. Because of this, most if not all my work is meaningful, not just to me as the creator but to the audience, because it symbolizes a moment in our history that we need to reflect on and digest what it means for us in the present day. Read more>>

Nolan Harmon

This is a great question, but to be honest, there are so many to choose from. I always have the mentality that my best project is my next one. I always try to one up myself in everything I do. I’ve got to do some acting in some films such as Noah and Normal Norman which were both great experiences. Read more>>

Katie Ponder

If I were to travel back in time and tell child me what I do today as a job, I think the child me would be very very happy. At school I used to get into a lot of trouble because instead of doing my lessons, I would be busy filling my work books in with drawings of mermaids and fairies. Read more>>

Kiki Farish

Much of my work explores the emotional conflict I experience in repeated attempts to purge the patriarchal and religious constructs that govern my life and have influenced the lives of women throughout history. I seek to promote dialogue about the female body, female rights and our formal education concerning female reproductive systems. Read more>>

Maryann Cocca-Leffler

Recently, my career has taken “a little turn” as I redirected my focus and merged my disability rights advocacy with my career as an Author-Illustrator of Childrens’ books. I have been a disability rights advocate since my daughter, Janine Leffler, now in her 30s, was born with cerebral palsy. I recently published 3 books related to disability rights, one of which was co-authored with my daughter, Janine. Read more>>

Barbara Freund

I can’t select a single most meaningful project and so many were related to a previous career spanning a couple of decades. Meaningful projects related to art all have common themes in that they give in multiple ways and directions. I am committed to helping those who help others so I direct a portion of proceeds from the sales of my paintings to rescue groups that are context related. Read more>>

Ghazal Foroutan

As a designer, I feel responsible to do self-initiated projects that have greater meaning in my practice. Yes, designers do make an impact on the society through their design solutions for their client’s problems and make the world around us look more pleasing. But I believe a designer can have a greater influence on society through projects in which they are not paid for but are done for reasons such as a protest for a social change. This is called “Design for good”. Read more>>

Sarah Rosa Glickman

For me, it isn’t one single project but rather the family of projects that I have created since the pandemic began. I have experienced a lot of trauma throughout my life and by 2017 I had found myself in a very deep place of darkness. The journey to climb out of that darkness, to rediscover myself, my worth, and my voice has not been fast and it has not been easy. Read more>>

Alta H Haffner (Mabin)

Although I have published many ebooks and paperbacks of my own over the years, the most rewarding part of what I do is seeing the excitement when someone I helped gets to hold a book with their name on it. The magazines – The dream started at the start of Covid, It was during an interview with a Podcast in India when she asked me “What is it that you still dream to do?” Read more>>

Marinés Adrianza

I was thrilled to be invited to the art and fashion show at the Doral Museum of Contemporary art. As a painter, I wanted to create something that would represent my art in an innovative way. To do this, I decided to build a mask from unexpected materials such as dyed tights and wire. Read more>>

Sara Van Hecke

The most meaningful project that I have worked on is my debut full length album titled “Sun Soul” that was released on the 2022 summer solstice. There was a specific day back in winter of 2021 when I was living in Chicago that I drove out of the city to be in nature for the day. On that drive I was reflecting about my music career and what came next. At this point I had self released a collection of home recordings titled “Melrose Street Sessions”. Read more>>

Mzsassytheauthor

I started writing in 2010. I completed my first book in 2013. A couple of months laters, I lost the flash drive and all my work. I spent almost four years trying to recreate what I lost with no avail. My aunt suggested I writing something new and 18 months later. I published my first book. After finishing my second book, my mind opened up to write the book i lost. Read more>>

Nowayy

It’s been soo many, every project I’ve put out is special to me because the music paints a picture of where I was at in life at that point, Convertibles On Collins probably was the most fun recording, at that time I had bought a drop top Mercedes i had went to miami and Cali that summer, we was partying damn near every week, doing shows all through Atlanta with the gang right with me I was just living life and rapping about all my experiences, Read more>>

Lei Zhang

My thesis project “Virtual Religion” is one of the most meaningful project for me. I express my design concept through virtual and physical combination. The inspiration for the “virtual religion” came from the Chinese word “spiritual realm” coined by the Chinese scholar Mr. Qian Xuesen, who associated the “virtual world” with Dacheng wisdom. These ideas inspired me to use the concept of “religion” to understand the virtual world. Read more>>

Astrid Dong

I completed my short film, Joyrider, in the fall of 2022 and it was the most meaningful project I have taken on so far in my filmmaking career. I wrote the script for the film the year previously while in school, and it was completed as part of my thesis project to graduate. Joyrider is a film about a young chinese-american girl whose relationship with her mother shifts after the two of them lose their apartment and must move into their family restaurant. Read more>>

Melissa Roche

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on, I would without a doubt say, Education. I currently, and for the past 11 years, have earned a full time living educating people in all walks of life, the craft of Hairdressing. When I began my career in 2002, I remember thinking that I would never want to be a “beauty school’ teacher. Read more>>

Livia McDonald

I feel like my podcast is definitely the most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on thus far in life. My podcast is a way for me to encourage, motivate, support, enlighten, and spread faith to others. It means a lot to me, to be able to aid individuals around the world to gain more confidence and trust in themselves and life . When I was younger I would feel very low about things going on in my life. Read more>>

Eric Novak

I recorded an album back in 2021 with my band WHTVR FRVR. Classified as dinosaur jazz, the music sought to find links back to the past through music by attempting to tap into the spirits of the past and future. In order to do this, I tried a different more intuitive way of writing the music. I composed melodies and chord progressions but I never bothered to see how all the parts would sound like together or how the songs would be arranged. I wrote all the music on paper with pen and ink and made it feel much more special and unique. And old. Read more>>

Schondra Aytch

My most meaningful project was my first-ever event, Ladies’ First. I had the amazing opportunity to partner with University At Buffalo to curate a show highlighting women in our local hip-hop community. From breakdancers to videographers, to DJs to rappers, it was a dynamic celebration that honored many of the women I looked up to throughout the years of journeying through Western New York as a music commentator. Read more>>

Dean Allman

Probably photographing and shooting video at the World Bodypainting Festival in Austria in 2019. I have never felt more welcomed as a creator. The artists worked for hours with their models, who were then showcased on stage for a few hours more, before they went on to wash off the beautiful artwork. Our job was to preserve their work. At the end of the festival I felt that I was a part of a wonderful, creative community. Read more>>

Emma Larkin

Over the last couple years I’ve done a few large projects for trans people, and I find these kinds of tattoos really inspiring. I think one of the most powerful things that getting tattooed can do for people is to help them feel more at home in their own bodies and more completely themselves. Read more>>

Emily Reinhardt

I have always felt incredibly grateful to my teachers and those who showed me how to become an artist and think creatively and critically simultaneously. I’ve always wanted to find a way to pay forward by sharing my knowledge and creative style while hopefully inspiring others along the way. Which led me to write my first book! Read more>>

Omar Román De Jesús

Creating my dance company, Boca Tuya, has been one of the greatest joys of my career. I came into directorship the way many dance artists do – with the assumption that if I wanted to make my own work and get it shown, a company would be the most logical way to accomplish that. Of course, running an organization comes with far more responsibility than simply making dances and convincing people to present them. Being a director means being a leader. Read more>>

Keaton Punch

The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on was the Eunith – “Back Here” music video. This project showed me the value in collaboration, organization, and resourcefulness. At this point of 2021 I had created 3 amazing music videos with Eunith (Matthew Prewitt), and felt we made an excellent team together. We began planning in early August for the “Back Here” music video, and knew it was going to be our most ambitious project yet. Read more>>

Giovanni Piacentini

One of the most meaningful artistic project I’ve done is my Guitar Concerto written for Eliot Fisk. The reason it’s so meaningful to me is because it represents a huge milestone in my career and both an arrival and departure point for me artistically. Eliot and I met in the most serendipitous way one day in Rome. I was about 15 years old and had been a fan of Eliot for many years. He was by far my favorite guitar player and I admired him as a virtuoso and a maverick. Read more>>

Yue Dong

I’ve done a lot of meaningful projects that address educational issues about cyberbullying, relieving stress and seeking psychological help, and so on. I think every one of them is meaningful and explore how to solve social problems. But the project that impressed me the most was when I was invited to the UK a few years ago to exhibit at London Design Week. Read more>>

Kwame Sound Daniels

I think the most meaningful project I’ve worked on was a manuscript that I haven’t given to presses yet because I’m doing a final revision. It’s possibly the most meaningful because it was the most free I have been with a project. I wrote into the dark with it, wrote constantly. I got the chance to explore the aromantic spectrum and the asexual spectrum in relation to lesbianism. Read more>>

Mason Wheelock

The Most Meaningful project that I’ve been a part of was a short film called Lighter written by Jack May for his senior Thesis here at SCAD. Read more>>

Sole Bovelli

I think, in a way, all the projects I’ve been a part of or have collaborated on have been meaningful in different ways. I’m really grateful to have had great experiences with all the people I’ve met through work. Read more>>