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?

Brooks Luby

As a breast cancer survivor, I was selected as the exclusive designer for a breast cancer nonprofit fashion event for five consecutive years. I created designs for each model survivor, where they walked the runway wearing my designs. Read more>>

Erin Holland

As a mama of two I have to say that my daughters are my most meaningful project. Which of course is the truth! However, my current project not only is meaningful to me as an entrepreneur but also to all of the mamas out there trying to redefine what health and joy looks like on their motherhood journey. Read more>>

Chris Crain

As a multi-faceted singer, songwriter & musician, I’ve been fortunate to have a pretty good life as an adult. However, before I became the man I am now; I was a boy from a very small community in Mississippi, born with Brachial Plexus Palsy. This birth defect brought about many physical and psychologic obstacles. However, after being introduced to music my life changed. Read more>>

Gabriela domville

My most meaningful project is my bird project. It all started as a simple art class project in which I had to select an image as a reference to paint. Not having enough detail from my own photographs, I decided to touch base with the San Diego Natural History Museum for a better look at my subject -birds-. Read more>>

Rusti Willow

In about March 2021 I opened up My computer to discover a beautifully written email from a woman by the name of Jeanie Bell. She had expressed gratitude for a painting I had been commissioned to paint of her and her late husband Bill. She told me it helped her through a really difficulty time. I had met Bill through a mutual friend just months before he had passed of cancer. Read more>>

Nigel Dean

I would say the most meaningful project I’ve worked on thus far was when I worked with my first A-tier artist at the studio – The Shins. To provide you with some back story: Growing up I knew I always wanted to pursue a life in music. The moment I started learning my first instrument was the moment that realization came to me. Read more>>

Regi Strauss

Apart from launching Midpractical Modern, the most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my Midpractical Monthly Challenge. Without the Monthly Challenge, there would be no Midpractical Modern! Read more>>

Ritha Pierre

I recently directed and produced a documentary on Black Women in Small Business that was released on December 4, 2022 (my birthday). This documentary was created to motivate and inspire Black women to follow their dreams and start their businesses. This project was the first full documentary I made, and the cool part was that it was shot using my iPhone. Black women are leading in starting small businesses. Read more>>

William McGinn

I have several books written and every one has enough meaning behind it to tell a five-minute speech. One is a series I wrote as a teenager to cope with my fears of becoming a teenager, which turned into the characters growing up alongside me. One I wrote based off a family tragedy, and another I wrote because there was an online community who did amazing things I never could be a part of but always wanted to be. Read more>>

Japheth Asiedu-Kwarteng

All my works are meaningful and very dear to me and my story. I make work to discuss the overwhelming strength one has to harness to navigate the diaspora as their new space away from their homeland. My most meaningful work would be “I Miss You Dada”, 2021. I made this work after my first visit to my family in Ghana after being away for two years. Read more>>

Luh Michael

My most meaningful project to me by far is “Hood 2 the Mic”. I came up with this project when I was having those up’s and downs. While in the studio with my people I wanted to try something different with my sound. It also gives you a look into a transitional phase I went through. Read more>>

Marlene Miller

In 1998, I created a monumental ceramic relief sculpture in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Illinois Central College, where I taught in the art department. I drew inspiration, compositionally and thematically, from the Italian Renaissance painting “Tribute Money” by Masaccio, which I had the good fortune to study in person years before in Florence. In this three-part narrative, I focused on the history and mission of the college, with depictions of notable faculty members and a cross section of the student body. Read more>>

Matt Harline

In 2020 I met a family with a daughter that has a genetic disorder. I created a painting of their daughter to highlight her abilities. She referred me to a friend that has a daughter with a rare disorder. I created a painting of her daughter, again, highlighting this young girl’s abilities. Read more>>

Jacinda Aytch

The most meaningful project that I’ve worked on–and that I’m currently working on–is my comic StepSisters. I’ve worked on this series off and on since I was a freshman in high school, constantly starting and stopping because whenever I would attempt to tackle it I would feel like my art and storytelling abilities weren’t at the point where I could do the story and the characters justice. Read more>>

Bailey Murrell

At the very center of my core, I created amuse to honor Black women. With amuse we are amplifying visual storytelling of the Black Experience. Womanism, and cultural motifs are visible through the images and creative projects I output. As a visual artist, I am passionate about working with people whose values align with amuse. Read more>>

Presley Oldham

One of the more meaningful projects I’ve worked on recently was a collaboration with my uncle, Todd Oldham. He was a fashion designer in the 90’s, and I was lucky to grow up in the colorful world he created. A large facet of his runway collections were the handcrafted metal hardwares that adorned the clothes. All of the buttons, belt links, and jewelries were ornate and unique, and were also sculpted and cast by my father. Read more>>

J-Darius

The most meaningful project that I’ve worked on is my latest album, “No Time Wasted”. This album came out on August 15, 2022. This was my second album and really want to show my growth and abilities as a singer songwriter. On this album, I wrote all the lyrics sung every part, including the all background vocals. I wanted to display the range of my vocal ability and share concepts that were important. Read more>>

Michael Bolland

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on would be my upcoming EP, “Square One,” which is set to release summer of 2023. This is the first work that has truly allowed me to push the envelope in sound design and to find new ways of implementing my guitar and vocals. Each track is set to encapsulate the various feelings that we call grief. Read more>>

Rich Woods

The most meaningful project I worked on is my feature film “12 Hours” which can be viewed on Amazon Prime. I wrote the film early in the pandemic and together with DP and Producer Torrance Hill we came up with a plan to shoot it. It was tough because while I wrote the film in the spring while the pandemic was just beginning we didn’t film until fall. So when Fall came, people were still afraid and didn’t really know what we were dealing with as far as covid is concerned. Read more>>

Jack Kendrick

I could give you a book full of the ideas and projects I’ve had over the years but recently I have started a lifetime project called “The Side Effects of Being Human.” This, to me, is the most meaningful piece of work I am going to embark on. This project will be a study of some of the very base forms of human nature, from laughing and crying to even the mundane things like someone staring off into space. Not only will this project be meaningful to me but it will also be important in the fact that it will show people that life is worth paying attention to and admiring. Read more>>

Lisa M. Silvera

One of the most meaningful (& challenging) projects I collaborated on was creating large scale background “sails” for The Netflix Series “Gentefied”, a comedic drama series documenting the gentrification of Boyle Heights (just East of the LA River) here in LA, which is historically a robust and close-knit Mexican American community. Read more>>

Jayna Davis

I have been writing songs since I was about ten. Lyrics were my favorite form of therapy. When I was bored in school, or having a bad day, I would write down all the lyrics to my favorite songs from memory, study them, and daydream about someday recording my own songs and sharing them with the world. Throughout my teenage and college years, I sang at talent shows, competitions, and school events. Read more>>

Imani Haynes

Upon entering grad school, I knew I wanted my MFA thesis to be a message of appreciation to Black Women. After research and much reflection, I thought of the first moment I felt pride about my intersectional identity; I attended the 1997 Million Woman March in Philadelphia, PA, with my mother and her woman’s group. The Million Woman March is one of the largest 20th-century demonstrations in United States history, which, unfortunately, is not an event that many people remember. Read more>>