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.

Sruthi Alagappan

When I moved to LA 4 years ago and was finding my footing in the industry I came across an opportunity to produce a comedy sketch for South Asian AF, a team of south asian writers, directors, comedians, improvisers, actors, and storytellers. Being a part of this team and producing a sketch is an experience I hold dear. Read more>>

Camila Pernisco

Towards the end of my first year of college in New York City, I became really invested in my writing practice. I was disentangling my private life, particularly family dynamics and my upbringing, and felt really inclined to document the active exploration. I pursued “Ruminations,” a print publishing project, made up of my personal essay writing, commissioned illustrations, and found material scans. Read more>>

Elyssa Edgerly

In 2022, I was asked to be one of three female artists to design and paint a mural covering all four walls of a prominent room in a local non-profit’s new building. The space is a thriving community hub and serves as a gathering place for diversity, learning, growth, collaboration, and freedom of expression. As one of the artists tasked with enlivening the building, I felt like we were creating history… creating the artwork that will support a thriving space of expansion and community vitality. Read more>>

Illkya Acosta

To date, one of the most meaningful projects I’ve had the privilege to work on was the design of the warm-up jerseys for the NJ Devils during their Hispanic Heritage Dedication night in the autumn of 2022. This project held particular significance for me as it coincided with a period of frustration in my full-time 9-5 communications agency job. Seeking a creative outlet beyond my day job, I actively pursued smaller projects that allowed me to express myself more freely. Read more>>

Giselle Manzano Ramirez

My most meaningful project is KRATER. We stand as an artistic incubator, fearlessly challenging the conventional fashion landscape by embracing the harmonious intersection of sustainable fashion design, performance art, and electronic music. At KRATER, we champion a collective of artists and designers who not only embrace intersectionality but redefine it, defying norms and purposefully blurring the lines between fashion and art. Read more>>

Robyn DeGraves

I’ve been writing most of my life, with most of my work being poetry or short stories. I always wanted to write a novel, but I never got beyond the planning stages or the first few chapters. It was frustrating and I never really thought I was going to actually find a story that stuck or something that I felt like it was going to be good. Read more>>

Ebony Bennett

The Brewerytown Garden in my North Philadelphia neighborhood is a safe place where I can decompress from everyday stress. After a rough day at work, I would walk to the garden and find a spot when I can sit down and draw in my sketchbook. It’s the best feeling ever. I love that garden. For the past few years, I was asked by members of the garden if I would be interested in teaching children’s arts and crafts workshops throughout the summer, Without hesitation, I accepted the offer. Read more>>

Jingyao Shao

Rewind is a series of intimate and evocative revisitings of preserved family memories, while reconciling with the identity and relationships with loved ones. The performance uses tape and custom-made electronics to explore the entangled relationship between self and familyhood through memory. 9 VHS tapes serve as handles to revisit personal family memories recombining visuals and sounds in them. Read more>>

Rob Bynes

Getting to contribute choreography for Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour is by far the most meaningful project I’ve worked on. I grew up in the Jersey Club culture so getting to be a part of bringing it to the worldwide stage and properly represent it is no small feat. The sound and some of the dances are all over the internet but there is so much more to it than what the mainstream audience has been exposed to. Read more>>

Delfina Piretti

An artist friend told me before going on my residency : you never know what it will happen- often not what we expect. This was certainly my experience at the Palazzo Rinaldi Artist Residency in an ancient, very small hilltop village in Southern Italy. next to the Pollino National Forest. My art at the time was painting and making interactive installations inspired by my nighttime dreams. Read more>>

Valerie Zborowski

I can remember in school loving art class more than anything else. It was important for me to be creative in order to learn, everything else was nonsense to me. It wasn’t until 2016 when I was pregnant and after my son was born that I actually started to explore painting something on a canvas. The paints were gifted to me and I birthed my first painting, for my Mother. Read more>>

Erin Duvall

The most meaningful project I have worked on has been the creation and continuation of my foundation, Twice the Love Foundation. ‘Twice the Love Foundation’ focuses on the social, emotional, and financial stressors of being a single parent and helping those who need assistance to get back on their feet again. Read more>>

Tania Esponda Aja

I am currently in the middle of an Art Installation called “The Power of Words” comisioned by Bal Harbour Village for Art Basel Miami 2023. It has been a beautiful project that seamlessly blends nature and art, crafting unfamiliar words from eco-friendly materials that radiate warmth, transcending linguistic boundaries to touch the heart. Read more>>

Celeste Barnett

Designing jewelry from scraps of vintage vehicles has led to some really fun and meaningful projects. Everyone has a story about their first car, or the old truck their father drove, or even their grandma, I really enjoy hearing how people connect to my pieces. I’ve had people buy pieces based on their birth or graduation year, even just the color or make of the vehicle. One of the most memorable pieces I’ve made was for a wife, from her husband, out of scraps of her grandpa’s old car. Read more>>

Helen Romeu Coombes

I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with many projects that have been meaningful and impactful in my career as an actor. One that comes to mind is a staged reading that I did in England in 2020 called “Insulted.Belarus” by Belarusian playwright Andrei Kureichik translated into English by John Freedman. Everything about the experience was unique. I was invited to participate by director and scholar Dr Bryan Brown in the UK premiere of the text, and so we were some of the first people to read and perform it. Read more>>

Daniel Solis

This next year for The Ransom Brothers will be a big one. We are fixing to record our sophomore album that will be produced by Gordy Quist from The Band of Heathens. We’ve followed them for years, covered their tunes and now we’ll be working with them. It’s crazy to think just a little over a year ago we were planning our first album, now we’re fixing to work with Gordy Quist. We learned a lot working on our first album and we’re taking all that into the studio with us second time around. Our goal for this second album is to be louder, bolder, and get people to understand that seeing us live is one hell of an experience. Read more>>

Kate Sullivan

I have had many wonderful experiences in my career in the arts. Read more>>

Don Goede

I created SunWater Spa with my business partner, Kat Tudor. After a life-changing trip to Rishikesh, India we decided to bring a healing and spiritual center to Southern Colorado where I currently live. We have millions of gallons of sacred water in a Karst System Aquifer hence the name Manitou Springs. India has the Ganga or Ganges River so I created a situation working with our city where we could use the water, through an augmentation plan, to go into cedar tubs for people to reap the benefits of soaking. Read more>>

Dennis Hecht

During my career as a professional photographer, I have had the opportunity to work on various projects, ranging from collaborating with sports leagues to rebuild their image, helping businesses craft a compelling narrative, and supporting political candidates in showcasing the essence of their campaigns and overall political journeys. Read more>>

Chandra Delano

Currently, I am working on the most important project of my musical career thus far. My mother was just 17 years old when she was exposed to hard drugs for the first time. Little did she know that this is where her battle with addiction would start. Two years later, after coming out of jail, she was on probation and was clean for almost a year. She was then presented with an opportunity to do drugs again. At first, she abstained, but ultimately decided to give in. During this relapse, she had her guitar with her, and ended up taking it to a park to write a song. Read more>>

Armando Nieto

As an illustrator, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is witnessing the transformative power of art. It’s the profound connection that forms between my work and the emotions it evokes in others. There’s a unique joy in knowing that a single stroke of a brush or a carefully chosen color palette can resonate with someone on a personal level, eliciting emotions, memories, or even sparking new perspectives. Read more>>

Denisse Prieto

I’ve realized that each project I’ve worked on has been meaningful in one way or another. Even the films that have been very challenging have taught me a lot about who I am as a person or a new skill as a producer. One that I do hold very close to my heart is my latest film called “Sisters”. It’s a film three of my best friends wrote and star in it. It’s been the biggest joy to work and produce with friends while continuing to lift and help each other grow. They inspire me every day. Read more>>

Brenda Angel

One of the most meaningful projects I have worked on would be the Eco-tianguis Illustration I designed for PC4EJ (People’s Collective for Environmental Justice). They are a non-profit organization focusing on environmental justice and creating sustainable systems to protect public health. Earlier this year( PC4EJ) reached out looking for an illustration for their first annual Eco-tianguis. The Eco-tianguis was an event where the community could support the local economy and receive information regarding hyper-consumption and the impacts it has on our community. Read more>>

Innominate Kraken

The most meaningful projects to us are every single one of our how-to videos that we were able to work on with our grandma Herta, who we all called Oma. She was our biggest supporter and our first fan when we started our Innominate Kraken YouTube channel. She even became a team member when we launched our video production company. Read more>>

Nova Stclair

The Most Meaningful Project that I’ve had the Pleasure and Opportunity of Doing would be A video Project that I did with @Or_acle! They reached out to me and expressed interest in my art and we collaborated, creating a Visual and Audial masterpiece. It feels like an artist Ode to me… I feel like it was one of the first times someone saw my Natural Essence, Light, Radiance and sought to amplify me…Makes my Heart Smile… I am Still immensely grateful for this. Read more>>

Cecilia Henle

In 2005, I was asked to create a watercolor painting for the amazing screenwriter, Keir Pearson. Mr Pearson is an American Academy Award-nominated screenwriter notable for the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda. The painting was commissioned by the President of the Itafari Foundation, Victoria Trabosh. It was presented to Mr. Pearson at the Irafari Foundation Fundraising Gala in Portland. I remember how thrilled and honored I was to be asked to create this piece, however, I had only a short time to complete it. Read more>>

Lot Winther

At the moment, I’m working on an exhibition under the name “Hall of Femme” with an artist colleague. We’re portraying the most influential women that are writing feministic history in Denmark today. The idea came a year ago, as I frequently found myself lost in discussions about feminism, because I felt the inequality but didn’t quite have the arguments or numbers to add to the discussion. Read more>> 

Jessie May

As a mom of two toddlers with a full time job, who struggles to keep the house running while also attending grad school… There are some days I wonder if I even have it in me to be a “creative” any more. But I have a few meaningful projects I think about that keep me from giving up… Read more>>

Christian Harris

My most meaningful project currently is the recent launch of my podcast, “Who Asked Y’all Two?”, along with my brother Matt Lemite. Our goal was to offer unsolicited opinions on a wide variety of topics in order to inform our peers on current topics and express ourselves on how we feel about what’s happening in the world. We cover politics, we cover sports, as well as current events and trending topics. Very strong opinions offered from multiple perspectives in order to get information to the world. Read more>>

Vannessa and Coleman Crawford

One of the most important aspects of what we do is to help couples connect with nature in a deep and adventurous way as they connect with each other on one of the most incredible days of their life. Last season, we met an amazing couple who had the goal of celebrating their Pacific Northwest adventure elopement in as many different types of Washington terrains as they could. Washington really has it all. Read more>>

Luke Millington-Drake and Victoria Male

Luke Millington-Drake: I would probably say I would say our first script that we wrote together, because it was the beginning. It was a daydream idea that I had turned into creative exploration of our craft, our humor, and our friendship. The exact type of collaboration one would wish for. Read more>>

Daryn Wakasa

As a descendant of Japanese incarceration camp survivors — SEPPUKU (2017), a 24 minute surrealist horror film, is probably the most meaningful project of my writing/directing journey so far. The film explores the multi-generational effects of trauma from the WWII Japanese American incarceration camps. It’s about Mari Yoshimori, a Japanese American Olympic track star who suffers a career threatening injury. As a result, she falls into the spirit world where she meets her spirit guide, Bettari. As Bettari lures Mari deeper, Mari realizes that she must pass a test or die trying. Read more>>

Amelia Toelke

It is hard to remember the first months of the Covid lockdown—people were sick, dying, out of work, trapped at home balancing remote work and family life, isolated, and certainly not going out to art museums or galleries. It was during this strange and scary time that my friend, Andrea Miller, and I unexpectedly had a creative opportunity. Prior to the Pandemic, the two of us (who met in graduate school) had been working on a multifaceted project called “Worn”, that explored jewelry as vital to personal expression and a powerful tool for action, protest, and identity formation. Read more>>

Jerrell L. Henderson

Earlier this year (2023), I directed a production of the musical Ragtime at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights, IL. For those unaware, Ragtime is a large-scale musical book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. The show opened on Broadway in 1998 (the same year as The Lion King). Nominated for Best Musical, Ragtime would take home the Tony Award for Best Book and Best Score. It further launched the careers of contemporary musical theatre legends Brian Stokes Mithchell and Audra McDonald. Read more>>

Madcollage

I just concluded a personal project that has a lot of significance for me. It’s a set of five downloadable guides about collage. They cover issues such as composition, techniques, tools and materials. It took me well over six months to complete, and I’m very pleased that it finally came to fruition. Read more>>

Lily

Recently, my idol group have been working on an original song, RACKETBALL. Read more>

Zixiao Ye

I’d like to talk about my most recent original album “Silver Lining”. Read more>>

Huntly Plantz

Huntly Plantz is a young actor based in St. Petersburg, FL and Los Angeles, CA. Read more>>

Tiffany Liu

Before writing this, I was asked how I would describe myself. Defining myself proved to be a challenge – I’m somewhat of an actor, an influencer, a marketer, a photographer? I’m a work in progress, I suppose. Pinning down the right words to describe myself proved challenging. Read more>>

Mia Gibbons

My Current Project: Hairstylist to Educator. Read more>>

Nikki Engleman

Deaf Dog of MN started when I posted a video of my then 14 year old dog, Zoe, woke up our deaf dog, PeeWee.. Read more>>

Nick Marlow

My band Read more>>

Mimi Sanada

meaningful projects Read more>>