Every once in a while we have the good fortune of working on a project that we feel truly matters, a project that we’ll still be thinking about years from now. Maybe even something we can imagine telling our grandkids about – surely you’ve had moments like that where something you did in your professional life really mattered?

Lydia

Telling stories that matter—especially ones that empower women—has always been close to my heart. It’s what fuels my creativity and keeps me focused on projects that actually make a difference. Read more>>

Jay Farrell

It’s a hard call— though Route 66 Roadscapes has been my most meaningful project to date. What makes it so special is that it unfolded naturally—I didn’t set out to create a book. I explored Route 66 over the course of several years, one stretch at a time, drawn to its vintage signage, weathered buildings, and the quiet magic of forgotten places. It wasn’t until my last two or three trips that the idea of a book started taking shape. Read more>>

Marion Piper

In 2021, at the height of the Covid lockdowns in Melbourne, Australia, I had an idea. I’ve been journaling for as long as I can remember and I run workshops on how to do it in creative ways. People were asking me for prompts they could use so I decided to design my own journal prompt deck. Aptly named “The Expression Deck”, it had 52 journal prompts for post-traumatic growth. It was so meaningful to me because it combined so many things I’m passionate about: mental health, illustration, journaling and physical products. I created it as a limited edition run of 100 and it completely sold out! I’ve considered creating a second deck this year, so stay tuned! Read more>>

Brit Whittle

I was doing a play called The Laramie Project when 9/11 happened. We were set to open that night but decided to postpone. The next day we felt an urge to continue on with the play and I’m so glad we did. The story is about Matthew Shepherd and his senseless killing in Laramie, Wyoming. The story is also about this small community grappling with this horrid event and what it means. The play sold out every night as people were not only grappling with the story of the play. In a way, it seemed to give people a cathartic moment to grapple with the senseless death and destruction that happened on 9/11. Sometimes the art we create can meet a moment in such a profound way that it transcends in ways that are unexplainable. Read more>>

Cynthia Smalls

My journey began with being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. As a patient, I was given many resources but none of the information featured anyone that looked like me. As a Black woman that was hurtful and in survivorship I decided to do something about it to make it better for those fighters coming behind me. I founded my blog Melanin & Pink Ribbons in 2021. In 2023 I extended my outreach with my first book, Push the Button: A Seven-Step Approach to Life’s Changes. The book details moving from a negative place to a positive one when life throws you a curve ball. My second book Positive Affirmation Journal for Breast Cancer Fighters & Survivors is the book I needed as a fighter but never found so I created it. Read more>>

John Patterson

The first play I professionally produced was about my coming out experience. I wrote it two months after coming out to my family, and I produced it in less than a year. Up until that point, I had tried to get a number of creative projects off the ground to no avail. But with this play (entitled Verisimilitude), I was like a dog with a bone. I would not let go. Read more>>

Homealone Drock

My “Same Night” ep was my most meaningful project because I wrote all 4 of those songs , recorded them myself , & uploaded them to distrokid all in the same night. Read more>>

Spec Turner

As a music producer, I always had a shortlist of artists I dreamed of working with. But at the top of that list—without question—was the legendary Whitney Houston. Producing for her became the most meaningful project of my career. Read more>>

Weijun Chen

Last year, I had the great pleasure and honor to score “Two Girls,” a Chinese horror thriller directed by Fangqi Liu. The film focuses on two female leads who are trapped in an old house in two simultaneous timelines. Fighting for survival, the pair uncovers the dark secret of this house and the twisted human desire behind it. Set in the rural southeast region of China, the film showcases creepy wooden masks and dolls at every corner, which are props used in a local operatic performing tradition called Nanyin. Because of this setting and art style, the director and I decide to lean heavily into this local music tradition in addition to the usual horror tropes. We often emphasize the term “ethnic horror music” to highlight we aim to achieve. Read more>>

Mariah Swigart

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on is my Meaningful Topics Podcast. The idea behind it was simple: to create a space for conversations that go beyond just surface-level chatter and dive into topics that truly matter in life and business. As someone with a background in industrial psychology, I wanted to use the podcast to bring in experts, share insightful research, and explore ways people can live more purposefully and effectively in all areas of life. Read more>>

Sima Schloss

The most meaningful project I’ve done was an installation for The Eyes Have It at Lehman College Art Gallery. This show was special for many reasons. Lehman is where I earned my MFA in painting—an experience that shaped my life and career. I had a professor who became a mentor and formed lasting friendships during my time there. Read more>>

Lucie Tiger

As a female artist I’m often at the forefront of the gender equity gap – especially as a country-crossover artist. Last year there were big celebrations when Ella Langley was the first female artist to get a number one single on country radio which is amazing. The song was ‘You Look Like You Love Me’ which is an awesome song however it is a duet with a male artist and not a solo female song. Plus it got to the top spot in something like Week 5o of 52. So it took 50 weeks to get a female artist to the number one spot on country radio and even then she needed a male duet partner to get there. Read more>>

Amoya Williams

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on was a collaborative fashion show hosted at ACX1 Studios right in my hometown, Atlantic City, NJ. I always knew I would host my own fashion shows but I had no idea my first show would be the start of such an impactful movement. The idea was posed to me by a popular event curator at the time. He invited me to be a featured stylist in the show. By the end of our first meeting I was named the Project Manager and Head Stylist with full creative freedom. With only 60 days to make my dreams come true, I instantly reached out to every local creative I’ve connected with throughout my career. Read more>>

Phillip Wilson

One of the most meaningful projects I have ever worked thus far in filmmaking has been Bagman Rising. I have made 2 feature films prior to this one. I started writing this post production of Bagman (2020) in 2017-2018 which was a failure and a successful film for making me a better filmmaker. Lot’s of feedback and overall solid criticism. After getting told the acting sucked and the movie sucked when it hit Amazon Prime this basically wanted to make me rethink a filmmaking career. Also I applied to 71 films festivals for that film and only got into 3 small time festivals. Talk about rejection. Here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada not a lot of films get made here. Occasionally a few, but not a whole lot, mostly just small local indie films. Read more>>

Kathryn Martin

All my projects are meaningful as to do a project is to inject it with meaning from the beginning. I search at the start of all projects to find and connect with its specific meaning and hold tight to it until the project is complete and full, if not running over. It is fundamentally impossible for me to say which project has been the most meaningful because to do so would underestimate just how important meaning is in the creation of a work of Art. Read more>>

Diego

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is Black Brick Project. In 2018, I expanded my studio space, which was exciting, but I soon realized that I wanted to share not just the physical space but also the experiences of being an artist in New York. This led me to create Studio 401 New York, a residency program where I invited artists to come to New York to develop a body of work and connect with galleries for solo exhibitions. Read more>>

Kurt Oberhaus

The most meaningful project I worked on is an independent film title “Amber Alert”. I had sent a self-tape audition in for a small part in the film. One of the producers saw my tape and I thought I would possibly be good for the main antagonist. They had me send in another self-tape for that part. A few weeks later I got the call I had booked the role! I shot for 7 days in and around Louisville, KY. It was an amazing experience with the best and most accommodating cast and crew. The film starred Hayden Panetierre and Tyler James Williams. Read more>>

Masa Gibson

During the height of the pandemic, I started experimenting with making music with bottles, playing them both as woodwinds and as percussion. After a lot of trial and error, I developed a process of recording and layering all different sounds into full-on musical pieces. Sometimes I added vocals, too. It was solitary, laborious, and meditative. This was my sourdough bread. Read more>>

Bonnie Vazales

I’ve been infatuated with music ever since I could remember. I’m the type to always have music playing. There is nothing like hearing a song that you’ve almost forgotten about and instantly being flooded with memories and feeling attached to just a few notes or words. Certain songs and musicians in my life hold my heart like diary entries. That’s why it was honor, and my most meaningful project yet, to make my favorite musician, Sierra Ferrell, a custom golden whistle ring. Read more>>

Emilie Eklund

One of the most meaningful projects I have worked on was building a creative retreat for women. Alongside a dear friend, we created a 3 day, 2 night retreat that gave space for women to rest, explore their creativity, and connect with nature, each other, and, most importantly, themselves. It was such a beautiful thing to see women taking space for themselves, and use creative practices to ground back into this moment. For a long time, I have used creative practices (like sketching, journaling, painting…) as a way to connect my body, heart, and mind; to use these practices to step back into this moment with my full self. So creating space for others to do the same felt so meaningful and was such a sacred thing to witness. Read more>>

Jey

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve ever worked on is a song I wrote when I was 19 years old, still in college. This record is particularly special to me because I had the honor of featuring my maternal grandmother. Her powerful voice on such a healing track is something I’ll always cherish. The song’s central message and hook, “Amiro Kuch Inkono,” translates to “I want peace, do you?” in my maternal Ugandan tongue Acholi Luo. Read more>>

EVA

One of the most meaningful projects for EVA was creating a song called “I Forgive You”. The depth of conversation about what forgiveness of oneself looks like, and how to put it into words was extraordinarily powerful and special. The song has taken on a life of its own and continues lead to us on a journey of healing and self reflection. We plan to release this song later this year, and pray it can help others find more peace within themselves through forgiveness. Read more>>

Lester Mayers

The most meaningful project I have ever worked on is the one I am currently undertaking, which involves transforming true stories about HIV and AIDS into powerful, narrative-driven poems, plays, film scripts, and short stories. Numerous scholars have pointed out that we may be on the brink of a new epidemic, worsened by reduced funding for PrEP, a lack of research, and the closure of clinics worldwide. As a gay Black man who lost my mother to complications from AIDS in 1998, I believe it is crucial for us to adopt a proactive approach rather than a reactive one to the ongoing HIV epidemic. Our collective action and awareness are essential in addressing this urgent issue. Read more>>

Joe Botsch

I had graduated art school and thrown myself into some self directed illustration work, hoping to make it big before I had to get a real job. I dabbled in some comics that I posted online and sold at conventions, got little pieces of one-off work here and there, but I was pretty unfocused. I’d get attached to an idea, pursue it for a while, then it would lose it’s luster and I would give up on it and move onto something new. After some years it started feeling like this was a cycle I was never going to get out of and I came to the slow realization that illustration had lost it’s joy for me. Read more>>

Deborah Solo Collins

As a musician, performer, and fiction writer, I’m lucky to have been part of hundreds of meaningful creative projects throughout my life so far. One of these projects is The Deborah Solo Trio, an indie band that features hooking melodies, heart-gripping lyrics, guitar, cello, and a percussionist who plays drums and two keyboards simultaneously. Read more>>

Ezra Croft

A few years back I had devised a concept for an art show called, the breast art show. Some people might’ve had the idea that artwork specifically of breasts would be cliché or overdone or might have a negative context brought into it by the wrong crowd. None of this was the case. Setting the stage and inviting artists, a majority of who were female identifying, gave way to some breathtaking and deeply meaningful exhibitions of thought, life and experience. The subject of identity and social construct around a simple part of human anatomy opened up 1000 points of discussion and artistic opportunity. Read more>>

Sangeetha Shinde

There have been so many that it is hard to pinpoint just one. So, I’ll talk about the latest project I have undertaken. I come from a tiny hill district in the South of India called the Nilgiris. Having returned home to live after nearly 30 years of globe trotting I wanted to give back to the community that raised me. It’s a unique district, with winding hill roads that curve their way through tea gardens and sholas (indigenous forests) and beautiful streams and waterfalls. Home to bison, leopards, malabar squirrels, bears, elephants, tigers, and a curious and fascinating mix of local tribes and people from around the country, and around the world. Life here is unique – people are very social, and the six degrees of separation shrinks to two degrees in these blue-green mountains. Read more>>