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.

Dellis Frank

I feel the most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my social justice/social commentary series. I am a mixed race person that self-identifies as Black. Even though I have had a fortunate life, I experience the disparities in the Black and Brown communities through the work I’ve done as part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. It is important to me that through my artistic practice I stimulate critical conversations. I question why we are still battling so many injustices after decades of fighting against these various issues. There are too many systemic problems to whitewash them away. Read more>>

Kobe Warner

I started releasing original music in 2020 when the pandemic cut my senior year of high school short. I had been performing for a decade already at this point, though I’d never taken to creating original art. I started singing in the theatre and church mostly when I was a kid. I also sang the national anthem at many events, both locally and nation-wide. I digress… It’s been almost two years since I’ve put out any original music, but the drought is ending very soon. The songs I’ve been making in my time away have been liberating for me. They’ve allowed me to explore genres and sounds while also expressing how I feel about myself and my surroundings. Translating feelings, negative or positive, into art is so cathartic for me. This upcoming release going to be major, and there’s more where that came from. Read more>>

Dustin Gill

For the past five years I’ve dedicated my life to my music career as a recording artist (alias “Drawn To The Sky”). However, more recently I ventured into the world of filmmaking by co-founding a film production company called “Amber Forest Pictures.” with a musician friend of mine, Braden Barrie. We are currently engaged in the production of our very first feature film, a thrilling horror anthology titled “Farlight.” Read more>>

Marwan Shahin

In 2011 after the horrible police brutality cases being widely discussed over social media, young people started protesting against the Egyptian government which was pretty surreal. After the persistence in Tahrir square and all over Egypt we took down the corrupted regime, which to me was the most inspiring experience of my life. I felt it was my duty as an artist to create an iconic representation of the young people’s Revolution. Read more>>

Jim Ovelmen

I showed work several times in Mexico City recently, and had an amazing experience with a collaboration with a dance troupe called “Butoh Chilango” in Mexico. The work I created was an animated video called “Silencio Extraño”. The animation was projected 3 stories tall on a quake damaged building facade behind the dancers. Read more>>

Tyler Loyd-Calhoun

So I have 3 kids and My oldest gravitates to me. My youngest is the same with his mom, but my middle is sometimes in limbo. I try to give all my kids equal attention, but sometimes that is not always the case. One day I was checking my middle child, Destiny’s homework, She was writing some amazing poetry. In fact her poems were so good she was ask to read them in front of the school. I instantly became inspired by her poems. I loved the pride and wisdom she had at such a young age. This became a spark for me to work on my own poems as well. Writing and sharing poems with Destiny allow us to connect in way like never before. I comprised our collection of poems together to create my most Meaningful project ever called Loyal T and Destiny Letters to the World. This book is available on Amazon and my website Themmgo.com Read more>>

Shelby Thach

One of my favorite plays that I’ve ever designed was a production of Tea by Velina Hasu Houston in my fourth year at UC Irvine. The play follows the story of five Japanese women who marry American soldiers during WWII. As the play progresses, we get to see how the women cope with assimilating to American culture and the struggles they face doing so. Read more>>

Leah Nourse

Joyride the Band is set to release our first full-length, studio album this month! We recorded our first album in our friends’ basement & although we still love it, recording at Oranjudio has helped us grow so much as recoding artists & given us the opportunity to bring our songs to life more than ever before. Read more>>

Charvelle

This summer I had the opportunity to produce a short pilot for a digital series I’d been sitting on since pre-pandemic times, and it was truly validating of what I want to be doing, and so rewarding. My friend and acting classmate Auset Whatley is the one who really convinced me to make it happen, and with the dual strikes happening it felt like the perfect time to do my own thing. I made some edits, started casting and looking for crew and by July we had a plan of action and everyone on board. It truly went down without a hitch, and I couldn’t have asked for a more dedicate, generous and professional team to bring “Sweetness” to life. Read more>>

Evin Blomberg

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on has been starting my organization, Soli Music Society. Performing has been a part of my life since I was very little, so I never even considered what life would be like without it until the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic first hit, performance organizations shut down, and stages all around the world went dark. Surprisingly, it affected a much broader population than I could have ever imagined – people everywhere were struggling with this huge void in their lives that had previously been filled with culture, arts, and human connection in general. I don’t mean just the act of going to see a concert at a concert hall; I mean every little meaningful interaction from that experience that added tremendous value and meaning to our lives. Read more>>

Selena Leoni

As a producer, I’ve had the privilege of working on several meaningful projects that have not only deeply resonated with me but also left a lasting impact on audiences. One of my recent endeavors, “YOUNG KING,” (https://youngkingsthefilm.com/) stands as a testament to the power of storytelling. Directed by Bryant Griffin and produced by me, this feature film offers an intimate portrayal of Diondre Howell, an African-American man struggling to readjust to civilian life after his return from the Iraq War in 2005. “YOUNG KING” delves into the stigmatization of mental health issues within the African-American community, addressing poignant themes such as war, toxic masculinity, guns, and religion. We have just embarked on our festival journey, and we are looking forward to the opportunity to share this important film with a wider audience. Read more>>

Joyce Miller

Writing my memoir, Look! You’re Dancing, A Memoir of Dogs, Dance and Devotion, has been my most meaningful project. I spent twenty years volunteering for a greyhound adoption group and I adopted six greyhounds over the course of that time. I trained two of those greyhounds to do a dog sport called canine freestyle, also known as dog dancing. To improve my dog dancing skills, I began taking an adult tap and jazz dance class at 50 years old. The women I met in that dance class have become my best friends, my tribe. The memoir tells my story. Read more>>

Noah Herschel

I would say that all of my animations and songs mean something to me! When it comes to my most meaningful projects, two specific animations have a special place in my heart, the first Lonely Heart Guy animation was my first full-fledged animated sketch and establishes the “cinematic universe” for most of my animations. Creating original music is also an essential part of my animations and this was the first sketch where I put a lot of work into creating a dynamic soundtrack that fit the vibe of the animation. Read more>>

Miguel Almeida

The most meaningful project to date is a mural I just completed in my hometown in Caldwell, Idaho. This one felt special not only because it’s where I grew up but I was also able to represent my community through it. Caldwell, Idaho has one of the largest Latine/Hispanic populations in Idaho. It is about 40% of the population but you do not see that reflected in the public art. I wanted to represent my Mexican community through this large 28′ x 17′ mural. In this work I depicted two street vendors, one woman selling elotes, a man selling pallets, and a farm worker. Read more>>

Qingyang Xu

Neckstal Adventure is a unique app designed with a specific purpose: to encourage users to take breaks and relax by immersing themselves in a virtual reality (VR) game that focuses on neck health. During gameplay, participants are prompted to move their heads in various directions to discover and collect crystals scattered throughout the virtual environment. This interactive experience serves to alleviates tension in users’ neck muscles effectively. In addition to the immersive gaming aspect, this app offers a range of health-related features. Read more>>

Jenn Jeffers

Pass It On is an album about living, loving, and losing in Louisiana during the pandemic years, told through my lens as a black and Southern millennial woman. I wrote this album from 2019-2022, and it speaks across time and place, exploring my connection to my Southern heritage, the beauty of the land I am from, and common human experiences of uncertainty and hope. Pass it On is also meaningful to me as a songwriter because it is also rooted in my experiences of my home in Louisiana. In many ways, through these songs I sought to manifest the magic and mourning of the bayou state. Read more>>

Alexis Warr

My dear grandma passed away this last summer. She was like a second mom to me and loosing her was a pain that I’ve never felt before. She would call me her “Little Dancing Doll” ever since I was a young girl and had a lullaby to go with it that she’d sing to me from 0-23 years old. She was a big support throughout my dance career and one of my biggest cheerleaders. I love listening to the voicemails that she left me. Usually when a hard event happens I like to go to the studio and dance it out. When I enter the studio it’s like I go into a different world free of judgement of doubt and it feels nice to let go. It’s like my therapy. Read more>>

Judy Salinsky

My dream project is to be a featured artist showcasing my bronze marine sculptures in the Aquarium of the Pacific Art Gallery. My art is deeply rooted in my passion for the ocean and its inhabitants, and I believe it would resonate with your audience. I hope to create a relief sculpture of the Sting Ray Shuffle poem with rays and kelp flowing around the poem. Read more>>

Radhika Bansal

Every project you work on is meaningful its own way and you learn something new from it. The short film I am currently working on is closest to my heart. It is about an Indian immigrant mother who quietly struggles in an abusive marriage, but when her daughter returns home one day having been bullied, she must choose the kind of example she wants to set for her daughter. Read more>>

Surpass Flavor

Recently, the students at the North Engagement Center inside North High School started reading Reminding Me of Mo. It is meaningful to me that students from my Alma Mater will be learning about Mo’s life. I’ve also been in the studio lately recording my first solo project in 9 years. It’s called Revivifying Contact. “Pizza Man” is the first single and will be released soon along with a article to match. Read more>>

Patricia Fortlage

I have worked on some incredibly meaningful projects… life after sexual assault, women breaking stereotypes so the teens coming after them don’t have to, supporting the incredible work of Ida Puliwa and the Othakarhaka Foundation in Mulanje, Malawi, but I think my most meaningful one so far is the one I am working on now. It is a series titled, “Lemonade” and it is my own personal story about living with chronic illness and disability. I would like it to serve as a love letter to the chronic illness community… especially the women who are most gaslighted by medical professionals and others in our communities at large. Read more>>

Dance Doyle

From 2012–2020, my work was centered on one-to-one interviews with people who live in the San Francisco Bay Area who are or have been homeless, have struggled with addiction, and/or mental illnesses. Since 2009, I’ve been sober and this topic is heavily personal to me. My work, which resembles woven paintings, attempts to capture special moments extracted from experiences we’ve had along the way living in overpopulated urban environments in this country. Read more>>

Steeke

I want to talk about a project I worked on earlier this year. It was quite unusual for me, and a few months before, I probably wouldn’t have agreed due to fear and doubts. But I did agree, and I want to share story about it. In short, I was contacted by the manager of the music artist Le Youth and offered to work on promoting his new album. They had a concept to create several videos: an album announcement, singles, and the album release. I had to create a mural consisting of the tracklist, and separately, I designed lettering for the singles. They wanted it to look like street tags, in a different style. I also made several letterings with his name and the album title so they could use them on tour, for flyers, the website, and so on. Read more>>

Noga Bensh

The first project of my brand BENSH called “Individual” is the most meaningful to me. This collection and dance piece, for which I collaborated with over 30 kind-hearted creative professionals, is an integration of fashion and dance moving together as a device that is gradually peeling the layers of the non-human and human animals’ delicate relationship. This concept is explored in various methods which visually and conceptually blur the lines, silence the differences and instead highlight the similarities, reminding us humans of our animality. Read more>>

Leslie McGriff

I had an amazing client whose son had recently passed away. She reached out to me to create a bracelet for her in his honor. It included his favorite colors and charms that had sentimental meaning to both of them. It was bittersweet for her and it was an absolute honor to be chosen. She wears it daily as it reminds her that she always has a piece of his heart close to her at all times. Read more>>

Essenssya R

The most meaningful project I’ve been working on so far is “ATL TONAN CHANE” This musical project allowed me music, is about merging everything I am within my essence, a singer-songwriter, choreographer, producer, graphic designer, painter, free diver, fashionista, visionary as an ARTIST…the Mexican mermaid which the Nahuatl translation is ATL : water/ TONAN: mother/ CHANE: spirit. Read more>>

Rio Thorogood

My radio segment “The Songs that Shaped Me” is one of my favorite projects. My guests share with me a list of songs, about 5-10, that are important to them, and then we discuss. I play all of the songs in between our conversations, that way, the listener can actually hear the songs that are special to the guest. I have always loved radio shows. Today, with all the streaming platforms, it’s hard to not think radio shows might be on their way out. However, I have been wanting to host my own show for years and I still love many stations here in LA. Read more>>

Kaeley Pruitt-Hamm

My first full-length album “The Canary Collective: Vol 1” was a meaningful project to me, as was the opportunity I got to realize a dream of having Bob Boilen, head of NPR music, nod towards me by featuring my Tiny Desk Contest video submission on the All Songs Considered blog at the beginning of the pandemic, but I still feel like my most poignant thing I’ve been a part of so far has been the “Believe Her” music video. We put out the call and received scores of photos of survivors of medical and sexual abuse holding signs that said “Believe Me” so that the “collective” of people out there who’ve been disbelieved in doctor’s offices, courtrooms, and beyond could be featured as a part of the music video for my song I’d written about the topic. Read more>>

Mary Harris

The most meaningful project I have undertaken is my show, Hollywood Enchanted Nights. I initiated this project during a period of desperation when I felt a need for my voice to be heard alongside numerous of other incredible talents. Consequently, I curated an event that would provide us with a platform to create and collaborate. However, I wasn’t able to secure any galleries to exhibit my paintings, so I decided to sell art with the tickets. After turning 25, without a college degree, I had to think smart. I always remember the saying, “profits are better than wages,” which helped motivate me to sell tickets for $20 and large paintings for $300.This initiative helped pave the way for the art activism that began, helping artists understand their true value. Read more>>

Andres Irias

The latest project we’ve recently shot and we’ve got in post production as we speak is titled #Ladyfinger. This short film is currently the most meaningful because it pushed me out of my comfort zone. I am a perfectionist by nature and very meticulous on every aspect of building together a film, and this time around, since this was a short film for the 48 Hour Film Project, it all went out the window. Read more>>

Rachel Max Huss

I’d say probably the most meaningful project I’ve worked on (at least so far), has been my senior thesis “Kar’uth and the Pathstone,” which I completed for my final semester of the Cinema and Media Arts (CMA) program at Biola University. [You can find the proof of concept at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLHZbncC5j4] This project was not only a massive leap of faith that took me outside my comfort zone as an artist, but it also is one of the first times I got to see a story that was integral to me as a person be appreciated by others. For background, “Kar’uth and the Pathstone” originated from a 1 am doodle in September 2020 of a girl in a red scarf staring at a vast empty landscape. Read more>>

Katrina (KC) Medalle

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve had the privilege of working on is the Nuit Blanche 2023 festival we organized in curation with North Love Arts, a non-profit art organization that I co-founded. Nuit Blanche and The City of Toronto, being the #1 contemporary art festival in Canada, offered us a remarkable platform to showcase our vision. Read more>>

Zie

My most meaningful project will probably be the next one, honestly. After the last EAT tape, I had just moved to Vegas and had zero doubt in the music as a whole because had no resources, no connections, and was starting over from the very bottom. So over the years of working on this next one, there were times I was wanting to quit and there were times I fully believed in everything I’ve envisioned. This project is one of the reasons I’ve grown fully confident. Especially with the help of my guys Rahi (Studio 77) & Gas (The Gas Station) out here, there’s a whole different energy in all of this that’s about to drop. Read more>>

Meredith Lindsay

Being able to make a living while doing what I love has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. The only thing that tops this is being able to use my skills and experience on projects that contribute to the greater good. Working with non-profits and charities can be quite intense and complex, but it is also equally rewarding. Knowing that my work will be used to help to further human rights, to shine a light on our unhoused population, or to reintegrate child soldiers back into society is worth more that a simple paycheque. As a large percentage of my work with non-profits is behind the scenes, intended for small groups, and is mainly educational, I was happily surprised and honoured when asked to design something that would be seen by millions across the globe. Read more>>