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.

Katie Riordan

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on is when I painted my parent’s house for them for their anniversary. It was the first time I had decided to paint a home, which meant a lot to me. I have lived in that house since I was 5, so I loved painting it. I didn’t tell my parents I was painting it for them, but I could not wait to give it to them when I finished. Read more>>

Ron Weisberg

Our short film, Bozo, has made a fun festival run, winning several awards. It stars Rod Grier, so his iconic sister Pam watched it and recommended how we make the feature film even better of a concept. How cool is that! Read more>>

Colby Peters

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on in recent times is an upcoming song called “Love Will Be The Light” for one of my music projects called CLOUDLESS which features an artist from Sierra Leone, Africa named The Trapkid. This co-lab is particularly special to me because I see a lot of myself in The Trapkid. Read more>>

Jackie Lewis

In a way all projects are meaningful, but maybe some more than others. As artists we’re capturing a moment, a feeling, or a message… I do a lot of commission work and that is always rewarding because someone has trusted you to bring their vision to life. It’s rewarding turning that project over and see their reaction. I’ve made pieces for weddings, portraits of families, pet memorial works just to name a few. Read more>>

Eleese Meschery

During the pandemic, my husband and I hosted a few porch concerts for friends and family. We first held one for just our kids in our backyard and streamed it online. Further into the pandemic, we began hosting shows on our front porch and neighbors and friends gathered on our street. Read more>>

Christel Veraart

Every project I’ve undertaken offers its own unique significance, usually connected to a specific place in the world. Nevertheless, if I were to select one that holds a special place in my heart, I’d like to share the story of my latest endeavor. This project holds special meaning for me because it gave rise not only to my new album, “Nostalgia,” but also to my associated memoir, “Santa Fe & Esmeralda.” Read more>>

Lily Marie Antonini (Lil-E)

During my time as an artist, I would say every artistic opportunity to me is a meaningful project, no matter how big or small it is. I have had the honor of performing numerous shows across the globe with groups of up to 50+ and to me, each and every concert is a blessing. Read more>>

Jessica Connell

My most meaningful project was documenting the coral reefs of the Dry Tortugas National Park. In 2019, prior to the spread of Stoney Coral Soft Tissue Disease, I was the Teacher Ranger tasked with a job to document the coral reefs in their healthy state before the disease reached them. After word of that the coral killing disease was inching closer to the Lower Keys and National Park waters, it was decided that scientists from Florida universities would aid National Park staff in collecting coral fragments from healthy coral species which would be affected. Read more>>

Eric Clift-Thompson

While there’s definitely some of myself in all I create, my Vampthology series is really special to me. The two zines are collections of short stories and poetry- illustrated though a mixture of linocut, mixed media printmaking, and digital illustration- that use vampires as metaphors for facets of the human experience such as the impacts of capitalism, queerness, grief, and more. The concept and format of each Vampthology zine tie them together, but both installments have their own identity in a way. Read more>>

Sharone Halevy

As a commission based painter, my works are inspired by the stories my clients share with me. I have been incredibly lucky over the years with what people are willing to share with me. One couple commissioned a couple of paintings about their honey moon. Read more>>

Hillel Smith

The mural projects I get to do each have a different story but are as a whole the projects that I feel most deeply about. As a young kid first experiencing murals around Los Angeles, one thing that stuck with me was how these murals often represented something about the artists who painted them, the communities they came from, and the locations the murals mark. Read more>>

Narges Poursadeqi

I hold my series, “Reprinting the Family Album,” in a special place in my heart due to its deeply personal nature and the profound effect it had on my perspective as an artist. Read more>>

Hannah Burgos

The most meaningful project I’ve completed to date is my first short film, @theinternet (2018). I wrote a series of 1-2 page micro-short scripts to practice directing, and this is the first film I feel I stylistically captured my developing aesthetic. Read more>>

Eric Kenji

Just Dropped my first EP- DEEP DOWN this summer. This is the newest project which represent myself as an artist and a producer. Producing my music gives me total control over the sound and direction of my creations. Blending R&B, hip-hop, afro, and electronic elements within the whole project. Read more>>

Catrice Jackson

Far too many people strive to be successful, and I once did also. About ten years ago I craved the end of relentless hustling to be seen and successful according to what the so-called experts deemed as success. This was at a time in my business and personal life when I was seeking meaning and purpose. Read more>>

Eric Renard

My photographic journey began almost 50 years ago and it has evolved along the way. Recently the path has included several solo exhibitions, which are by far the most meaningful projects to most artists, taking months of planning and preparation. Themes for solo shows are painstakingly strategized, photographs are carefully curated and then the real work begins: printing, framing and hanging. Read more>>

Sean Aeon

At this point in my career, every project I work on is my most meaningful. Read more>>

Clementine Wright-Zenner

The most meaningful project for me so far in my career has been my time at Creekside Artist Residency. This residency took place in the beautiful redwood forests of Northern California. I was invited to come for 3 weeks and create a body of work based on my ideas around ephemerality, transformation and impermanence. Read more>>

Allison Scagliotti

Since 2018, I’ve been shaping my musical concept project, La Femme Pendu: French lounge horror ballads that exist at the intersection of film, Francophilia, and feminism. My first two records, Absolute Horror and VAMPYR, reclaim the narratives of women in iconic horror movies from Rosemary’s Baby to Only Lovers Left Alive with French lyrics and as much reverb as my producer will tolerate. Read more>>

Teddy Yudain

My wife is also an actor. She and her parents were very active at The Monomoy Theater in Cape Cod. It was a training ground for theater students that operated only in the summer, a different show basically every week. It was a formative place for her and an important place for her whole family. Read more>>

Shahla Rahimi Reynolds

Years back, I worked on a project helping children who had left their home with their mothers due to domestic violence. My job was to create something that not only allowed them to express their thoughts, but also give them a tangible item they could hold on to. These kids did not have the opportunity to take anything with them as they were leaving home, so none of their toys or clothes were things that now were offered to them through the program. Read more>>

Madison Margolin

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on has been the book that I just wrote and which comes out on November 7. It is a gonzo journalistic memoir, detailing my childhood growing up in Los Angeles. in the community surrounding Ram Dass (author of Be Here Now) and then as a journalist, reporting on the psychedelic underground community in New York. Read more>>

Meliza Ruby Almonte Cid

The most meaningful project I’ve had the privilege to work on is the “717 Female Emotions” collection, a creative endeavor that originated from a desire to challenge stereotypes and celebrate the strength and complexity of women. This project’s backstory provides a glimpse into the circumstances and context that inspired its creation and why it’s deeply meaningful to me. Read more>>

Emilia Mendieta Córdova

About a year and a half ago I was tagged in a Facebook post that was looking for a Director of Photography for a short film and I reached out. When I read the script written by Erika Navarro, the director, I knew I just had to shoot this project. DIVINE MOTHER struck a chord that resonated deep within and echoed the recent experiences a few of my close friends had just gone through – whispered to me in hushed tones, almost ashamed to even admit it. Read more>>

Oliver Cohen

I can’t name just one I’m afraid. Over the years I’ve filmed in Africa many times with UNHCR, Save the Children, Right to Play, Concern Worldwide, Mary’s Meals, Plan UK, Operation Smile and The Gates Foundation along with many other non profit organisations back home like the Alzheimer’s Society, The Shoah Foundation, Jewish Care, Human Rights Watch, Project Stress, Amnesty International and Cancer Research. Read more>>

Andrea Figueroa Chavez

Nothing fulfils me more than working in a project with the mission of helping others and opening doors. Recently I worked with Cynthia Prida in creating “Matria” for cinema. It is an invitation to all female creators in the entertainment industry of Mexican origin: Mexican, Mexican American and Chicanas in Los Angeles County to make their artistic work visible and build a first registry of women artists in Los Angeles. Read more>>

Houdinis Code

We are set to release our debut album “Escape”, on January 7th, 2024. Every song on this album was recorded in a basement, 1 bedroom apartment, one of our parents houses, and even an Airbnb in the middle of nowhere. Read more>>

Kelsey Landon

That’s a tough one,, I’ve met so many incredible talents over the years, but I would have to say “Department of One” has been my most meaningful project. From the first read, to being green lit, to filming and now on the cusp of getting back to it, it’s all been a joy. I was lucky enough to work with new faces and trusted old friends and creatives. Read more>> 

Ana Balcazar

The most meaningful project I have been working on right now is a mural in Lima streets, the main capital of my homeland, titled ” Suturar la herida con amor” (Stitch the wound with love). In the mural you can see a golden heart coming from a golden Peruvian map, being taken care of by many hands, surrounded by endangered Peruvian flowers and a hummingbird. Read more>>

Emily Brown

began making art intentionally to sell when I was at a low point in my life. I had alienated my family, lost my job in the science field, and had no backup savings or prompt opportunities to reenter any decent-paying job. So here I was, trying to produce artwork worthy of being purchased, while I had extremely limited resources. Read more>>

Lucia Wang

My first meaningful project was definitely Love, Antosha that I first interned right after I got out of film school. It was a documentary about a late actor who’s gone-too-fast called Anton Yelchin, and I was a big fan of him. It was a February before I graduate, and I was aimlessly searching about him – and I saw that his foundation mentioned that his documentary was being made. Read more>>

Dawn Delikat

All of my work at Pen + Brush feels meaningful and has an impact for the artists and writers we work with, but a story that resonates in particular is working on our retrospective with the artist Lola Flash in 2018 as it highlights the strategy and capacity of our programs. Lola Flash had been creating substantial work for 30 years when we met, and while she was well regarded in the field, she did not have commercial representation and was not selling her work regularly for fair equity, and really had no clear path in the field, which her work had earned and deserved. Read more>>

Megan Lange-Thomas

My most meaningful project was probably starting the Slaying Your Twenties series on my blog. I felt like I knew so many inspirational women, young entrepreneurs in the local community and they didn’t have a platform to share their success story just because they weren’t influencers. So I would select a handful of total girl boss’ in their twenties in different industries and do a feature of them on my blog each season. Read more>>

Gabby Fenimore

Since I began pursuing a full-time creative lifestyle, my goal and focus has definitely shifted. At 19, my goal was pretty simple: work hard and try to “book stuff.” 2020 made it really clear to me that booking was not the thing I love most about being an artist: it’s creating. Read more>>

Shanel Clark

One of the hardest things for me as an artist is quality over quantity. In this day and age…. It’s all about quantity. My thing is I’m more about quality. I love good music. I like music that moves you and creates emotion. This project that I’m currently working on will be a direct reflection of me. It’s so meaningful to me because I put so much dedication and and passion into this body of work. Read more>>

L’Andrae’ Bradley

Selecting to be on the volunteer committee for Art In The Hollow seems to be the most satisfying project I have been on since moving to Minnesota. For some of the art I create, I experimented with printed merchandise. I understand everyone either doesn’t have room for original art or has the extra money to purchase a drawing/painting. Read more>> 

Deborah Kang

This is a very interesting questions because normally all my projects are in a way deep and impactful for my career, as a storyboard artist my job is to tell a story visually and in a way “brain wash” my audience to my own style of storytelling. My most meaningful project is not based in which studio is the biggest for or if my show/movie sold more tickets, but which project made me learn and grow. Read more>>

Kevin & Kyle Powless

Every October since 2018 we volunteer our time taking photos for a breast cancer support group called “It’s A Breast Thing.” It’s so rewarding for us to be able to give back to the community and help a great cause in any way we can. We started volunteering with this organization in our grandmas honor as she is a breast cancer survivor.. Read more>>

Patient

After launching our debut EP, Past Lives, we headed to Earthsound Studios in Valdosta, Georgia, for the recording sessions of our next project, the Fever Dreams EP, under the guidance of the renowned Lee Dyess (known for his work with From First To Last, Mayday Parade, Evergreen Terrace). The first two singles were released in July, and the next single dropped on November 17th with the complete EP scheduled for an early release next year. Read more>>