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?
Onajide Shabaka
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on in recent years has been investigating colonial rice cultivation, its importation, cultivation, and the various formerly enslaved communities where it was grown and the people. I originally discovered Suriname doing research for a college sculpture assignment in 1971. Now, I’ve been to Suriname, Jamaica, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida investigating the various landscapes and descendants who might still be living in those areas. My telling of this story of African to American rice includes botanicals, animals, and people through their culture and what may have been retained from the beginning of Atlantic African enslavement. Read more>>
Amaia Marzabal
This past July of 2023 I had the privilege to work with two organizations MerchArt and The Porch Upstate. The result was a unique exhibition of my work and an outdoor art installation. This was my first solo project in New York State, where I got the chance to collaborate with people from different art backgrounds. All of our hard work including lots of meetings was worthy all the results. Read more>>
Violet
Projects that vibrate throughout my entire body and make my soul tick; that is the only type of project I yearn to pursue. With my background in the music industry there was attachment behavior to hustle culture all around. I felt shame when I was uninspired with the pressure to be creating constantly. I’ve found that when entering the creative space it has to feel like I am feeding my soul. Even if that means taking a hiatus for an entire year or two to find inspiration. I am now content doing what is needed until I feel inspired – which is exactly what I have done from my career in music. It has been a really healing and pivotal time for me. Deepening into sacred friendships and becoming aware of deep programming that I’d like to step out of. Read more>>
Aida De Moya
I have had incredible opportunities along the way which I am incredibly humbled and grateful for. Since the moment I started my path in music and until today as a professional I’ve had the opportunity to perform both in the Dominican Republic and the United States, presenting my own projects as well as supporting other exceptional colleagues in various forms. As an arranger, I have collaborated in productions that included both Latin Grammy and Grammy Award nominees and winners including the Brazilian superstar and guitarist Toninho Horta, the exceptional Paquito D’Rivera, as well as the renowned Berta Rojas, Arturo Sandoval, and Maria Creuza. They have allowed me to take part in their musical adventures and to explore the depths and versatility of my own musical expression. Read more>>
Bella Dee
During this past year, I was blessed to be apart of Creed III! This was my first time ever being apart of a movie, let alone being on a movie set. With that being exciting as is, I was proud to have the role of walking out the Mexican fighter, Felix Chavez, to the ring before his fight with Damian Anderson. Being a proud Chicana, I was proud to represent my culture with class on the big screen. I was dressed as a Catrina and I wore a traditional Mexican Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) makeup/facepaint and dress. That scene makes my heart beat out of my chest, because this is for LA RAZA! Another reason this project was special for me was that the makeup I wore in that scene was inspired by a photo shoot I had done a few years back. Read more>>
Damián Comas
Throughout my artistic life I have tried to make my work meaningful. That is my starting point; to say or create or command something that has a profound value; that contributes from the sharpness of a different perception. Works that help us to look at or understand a certain aspect from a new angle. Obviously, I have failed countless times and, for the same reason, I have been right a few times. I am a filmmaker and a writer who was trained in the visual arts, specifically in stone sculpture and, many times, I still understand my work from the stone, as strange as it may seem. First of all, I like to think of each of my works as a pebble. Being then the “thug” who throws a pebble in a certain direction and with it, manages to alter or stop reality for an instant. Read more>>
Kathy Liao
One of the most meaningful project I’ve worked on is an public art commission for the new Kansas City International Airport terminal. The piece is titled “Hello and Goodbye.” I immigrated to the US from Taiwan as a teenager. Growing up in the suburbs of Southern California, I remembered my father visiting every three months, traveling between my Taiwan home and my America home. My family became intimately familiar with the airport – we had our established routine of finding the same spot in the parking garage, which line was the fastest to check-in, followed by the exact same food court menu as our final parting meal, before we send my father off to the long-winding security line. Read more>>
Carlton Dossou
One of the most meaningful projects for me is my nonprofit organization, We Got Next LA! It’s something I hope to pursue and work on for the rest of my life! Read more>>
Elyse Kelly
Back in early 2017 I co-directed a short film with a dear friend, Dan Fipphen. The film did really well and it led to a connection with the ACLU. The organization was in an interesting momment where they were starting to explore how storytelling could be used to support the work their legal teams were doing. If you recall back to the U.S. in 2017, a lot was happening (it still is) and the ACLU was at the frontlines of a lot of issues. They wanted to refocus their work on a human level because at the end of the day the issues they were advocating for centered around people not statistics. Read more>>
Ungelbah Davila
I’m working on an ongoing project documenting Indigenous artists and leaders through photography portraiture and written narrative. Art, culture, and life are indistinguishable in the Indigenous panorama, so while the thousands of astounding Indigenous creators in North and South America are considered artists in a Western context, they are, more importantly, culture bearers in their communities. These photos and stories are usable tools to educate non-Indigenous populations and confront the colonial-gaze that has created false narratives designed to erase our humanity, cultural identities and overall existence. These photos and stories are a form of self-determination and just one more way to reclaim Indigenous existence for current and future generations. Read more>>
Matthew Pellowski
The most meaningful project and projects I have worked on are the ones where I did not have to compromise anything as an artist when it comes to the creative process. One of the unfortunate ironies of becoming a professional artist (someone who is compensated for their work regularly where it is a full time profession) is you often lose creative control over what you are working on. The “business” of being an artist goes against much of what art should be about and why most individuals pursue it as a career. Even if you are a freelancer you are still beholden to a client, and most clients are their own worst enemy. Read more>>
Joseph Fell
I take a huge amount of pride in everything we’ve done as Fell Harvest, but our latest album The Dying is very special to me. It is the first work of my life that I really feel is done RIGHT. It is not perfect, but it has no shortcuts or compromises and really represents both myself and my bandmates in the light I think we deserve. Read more>>
Jeremy Mowery
I’ve worked on many projects and they are all meaningful in different ways, so it’s hard to just pick one. I usually pick projects where I can flex my creative muscles and those are also the most fun. That reason alone makes them meaningful as well. I love the process and the art that goes into animation. You have to love the process in order to do this type of work. Too many people focus on the end goal, and that usually causes those projects to suffer. It’s better to hone in on the process, one step at a time. Recently I’ve worked on several projects that have been very meaningful to me so I’m going to list them to answer this question since I can’t just pick one. Read more>>
Heather Valcik
The majority of my art thus far has been visual and in the form of sculpture-installation, painting, and photography: essentially hand-made pieces in every category. In the past year, I was diagnosed with Autism and severe OCD. Whilst having OCD certainly helps with my productivity in making art, it has been a challenge in learning how to adapt my ability to hyperfocus in a positive direction. The ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) diagnosis is a different beast entirely. It opened my eyes with respect to learning that the way I view life and interpret events is unusual, as is the way I communicate with people. When I looked back at my older work, it’s glaringly apparent I was using art in a desperate attempt to express myself to others, as I was not able to do so verbally. Read more>>
Andrew Morales
I started making promotional videos for several theater companies in North San Diego County in the 2010’s. The connections I made during that time enabled me to create the largest project I’ve ever produced, called Heirs of Justice. This is a fan film web series that took four years to complete and is currently racking up awards in international film festivals in France and Italy. It’s definitely the most meaningful project I’ve done so far. Read more>>
Jeralyn Victoria
I’m creating a product line of custom residential and commercial wallpapers through a new local printer that I’m thrilled to be partnering with! My abstract artwork has been available as prints and wallpaper for some time, but it just felt like something was missing until I found a local resource that I could confide in to take this concept to the next level in both quality and execution. Read more>>
David Puskas
We have a drive to express, to convey what’s inside, give it form. Projects you connect with, that you deem important and meaningful are rare and the ones that connect with a larger audience are even more so. You always set about a project with your hopes high, let it be a movie script, play or music in my case, that it will be meaningful, engaging, and those projects hold a profound significance, transcending the boundaries of mere artistic expression. These endeavours become a canvas for our thoughts, emotions, visions, and enables us to communicate and connect on a deeper level. Not all work grants us entry to the altar of creation, where one can feel a sense of pride in what they created, so it is a privilege and takes luck to have a carrier marked by these works. Read more>>
Gaylen Smith & Allison Bankston
We’ve been playing together for more than 25 years. We met playing in a band, and we’ve been a couple for 23 years. Over time, we’ve done a lot of musical projects including an original funk band, jazz combos, 6-piece 80s hair bands, and many theater runs as pit members and actors. Music has always been a driving force in both of our lives, but for the last 6 years, we’ve concentrated on our duo act–the Sail Bums. Once we realized we wanted to live aboard our sailboat, travel, and do music as our primary work, we knew we needed to develop an act that would be well received in the coastal communities. Read more>>
Fabiola Schirrmeister
Des Moines Film / The Varsity Cinema: During the pandemic, I was contacted by a close friend that was part of a local non profit, here in Des Moines, Iowa called Des Moines Film. They were looking for Latino board members that could help represent the community but also help fundraise to restore a historic cinema. I was accepted to be part of the board and help raised 5 million dollars in total for cinema renovation. The Varsity Cinema opened successfully in December 2022. Read more>>
Gedaly Guberek
I recently premiered a sword-fighting comedy short film called The Flower of Battle. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfwDhfbKHlQ ) This has been a labor of love in the works for a couple years. It began when learning about a real historical figure, whose Wikipedia entry said he was an “itinerant swordsman.” My brother (who co-wrote / co-directed) and I thought that sounded funny, and we were intrigued enough to start writing. I’ve always been a fan of swashbuckler films like Zorro, Three Musketeer, and The Princess Bride, and saw this as an opportunity to make something like that. Despite being a genre that many people love, it’s just not being done anymore. Swashbucklers were popular in the early days of Hollywood, and gave way to Westerns and other types of adventures. Read more>>
An Hayward
Presently residing in Pensacola, FL, my focus has been directed towards a project that carries profound personal significance. Over the past three years, I’ve dedicated my time and effort to volunteering with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in their thrift store. Through the generous donations received, I’ve curated a boutique experience within the store, with all proceeds directly supporting the Alfred Washburn Center—a haven for the homeless and less privileged members of our Pensacola, FL community. The fulfillment I’ve derived from this endeavor surpasses any pursuit I’ve undertaken, even my enduring 30-year modeling career. Read more>>
Piotr “Pjot” Dyderski
Even though I used to think that our creative projects like films, advertising, or games only make a small, temporary contribution to society’s well-being, I realized during my career that we have more influence on others than we think. This became clear to me during the testing phase of a particularly important project. But more on that in a moment. I was tasked with creating a Virtual Reality app for an Austrian insurance company. The app was meant to make people aware of the dangers on the road, like using phones while driving. I found it funny because I have someone in my family (let’s call her Berta) who often reaches for her phone while driving. My attempts to dissuade Berta didn’t work. I thought to myself, if we can’t succeed with her, how can we convey it to others? Read more>>
Katisha Sargeant
One of the most meaningful projects that I have done was actually a play that I did as a volunteer act for Homeward LA. This program was running to raise awareness about issues surrounding homelessness. Although I received no pay for this project, it still comes in at the top of my list for meaningful projects. We performed only one weekend, two shows, and at the end of the second show, something I would have never expected happened. As I was gathering my things and preparing to leave, a woman from the audience approaches me and asks if she can hug me. Now, this has never happened to me after a performance, not with a stranger at least. The woman goes on to tell me that the monologue in my performance reminded her of her relationship with her father, whom she had lost, and that that it moved her to tears. Read more>>
Bruce Foster
In 2018 following my keynote address for the 25th anniversary of the Movable Book Society, our founder and patron saint, Ann Staples Montenaro, announced her retirement. Not only did her love of pop-up and movable books inspire her to bring like-minded people together, but she tirelessly quarter after quarter for 25 years gathered news, introduced new paper engineers, and championed our art form in the Movable Stationery newsletter. This publication was too important to let (it) languish. I had always enjoyed membership in the group from almost its very beginning, but always had felt that I had not fully contributed my fair share in support. Luckily, in addition to my pop-up book creations as a paper engineer, I had also enjoyed a career as graphic designer, art director, and creative director. So I volunteered to take it over. Read more>>
Nicole Resh
There is honestly a handful of meaningful projects that I have worked on though out the years. I have two that come to mind. The first one is a production that Plaid Pony Productions produced which was a Wrangler shoot with Leon Bridges in Marfa, Texas. The crew was amazing, the styling was incredible and the location was perfect. Working with celebrities, artists or huge creatives really does not effect me in anyway. But Leon has always been one of my favorite musicians for years now and being in his presence and getting to work with him and his team on set was magic. I love West Texas cowboy vibes as well! The entire production went seamlessly and the photos and videos for the campaign are still some of my favorite til this day that Plaid Pony has produced. Read more>>
Erik Otto
To be perfectly honest, my art practice has always pulled from my personal story, so there’s a heavy amount of meaning with every project I do. However, mostly due to its timing, one project in particular still stands out to me for a myriad of ways. Currently residing in New York City and just prior to the start of the Covid pandemic, I agreed to a 2-person show in San Francisco. Cash flow was tight due to a few financial mistakes, yet I was fully motivated to shift my work towards an all new sculptural approach. The day after NYC was told to lock down, I had no choice but to keep riding my bike to the studio and make the work I was compelled to make. Read more>>
Ari
My most meaningful project, and the one that started it all, would have to be the 7 Rings Parody, 7 Meats. I became Arigato Grande and that era I will never forget. Doing all of those music videos and meeting the people I did absolutely changed my life and my life’s trajectory. I thought all I could amount to in life was a menial job somewhere and just to try and scrape by. This whole era taught me to truly chase my dreams and work endlessly towards them no matter how long they may take. I’ve now reached a point where I have put the Arigato Grande crown aside to don a new one under a new name, Ari<3. I finally am able to step beyond what others expected or wanted from me and am able to do what I truly want in my life: to make music that is true to myself and the person I strive to be. Read more>>
Yubin Lee
The most meaningful project for me is one I recently completed, ‘The Eye.’ It was a true passion project that took several years. The idea initially came to me when I was a sophomore in college. It all started from my fascination with exploring the concept of eyes, which has a profound and impactful imagery. The first step was to develop a plot and concept. Given my love for gothic and monster-themed stories, I began jotting down notes and sketching ideas in my notebook. I drew a lot of inspiration from my all-time favorite movie “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” I embarked on the project, initially attempting it through printmaking. Read more>>
Oscar Barcelli
I’m currently working on my music. I released my first album in October 2021 and since that moment I’ve been working on new music and also finding venues around LA to perform my music. My goal is to share the Afro-Peruvian music around the world and to give workshops about the Peruvian percussions. Read more>>
Shweta Bist
My current and ongoing project, The Fragility of Time, is guided by emotionality and intuition and is especially close to my heart. When I started the series, I wanted to investigate an unsettling anxiety that began to creep in when my younger child turned eight. Amidst the two girls’ growing independence, I struggled to recalibrate from being their world to becoming a part of it. Despite having more freedom, I experienced a sense of being adrift. Coincidentally during this time, a friend my age passed away from cancer, and a newfound awareness of mortality washed over me. In my forties, time became precious like never before. Having lived thus far within the framework of a daughter, wife, and mother, I felt compelled to search for myself anew. Read more>>
Karen A. Chase
While I was in college studying advertising art, I worked on a real advertising campaign related to Leukemia, and a blood/donor drive that was to happen on campus. Our class did all the research, which I loved, as well as all the creative, outreach and marketing. We had a wonderful turnout the day of the drive, and on we went to the next project. A year after I graduated, I received a letter from our professor saying that someone who had donated that day had become a match with a person dying of Leukemia. The procedure had been a success. We had saved a life. And I realized that marketing—which too often is about consumerism—could have a positive impact on the human condition. Read more>>
Megan Thompson
Most of our projects feel meaningful to us because we are working so intimatley with our clients. They are letting us into their lives, allowing us to tear their home down to the studs, and put it back together. There is a lot of trust involved in this process, and we take that to heart. The most meaningful projects are the ones where we get to know the ins & outs, and a little bit about the lives of our clients. When they open up to us, we can truely find solutions in design that are right for them. Read more>>
Mark Allen
Despite the exposure and experiences I had in high school and college focusing on fine arts ,it wasn’t until our son was diagnosed with cancer that my creative journey took flight . A gifted artist in his own rights , Jared used his abilities to ease navigating his journey through treatments and long hospital stays . After he died I knew I had to continue the process to the pay tribute to a young life lost but well lived . Hence , Proper Mental Attitude . What started out as a series of cartoons evolved into acrylics on canvas and drawings easing my own journey through grief and evolution as an artist and human being. Read more>>
Beth Blatt
Sometimes we just know what we are supposed to do. A chance encounter, an offhand remark by a friend – and poof! An idea pops into our head. We have no idea how to make it happen. But as they say, Go out on a limb and the next branch will appear. Some context: I have a checkered past. First, I worked in advertising account management. Then I performed in musicals, which took me to Tokyo and Hong Kong. There, I started to write musicals. Then, I added songs and plays to my writing quiver. Read more>>
Abigail Weinick
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on was my senior thesis film, Hot Tears. I graduated from Mason Gross at Rutgers in 2021. At that time, we were all remote due to the pandemic. It was disappointing to be spending our last year of college, and the biggest year of our program, from home. However, I think being in my own bubble helped me focus more on just making something meaningful to me. I was away from my film peers who I sometimes would compare myself to. I was in a position to just focus on the work and when it came down to it, I made something I was the most proud of out of all the projects I made during my time in school. When we joined in person to film it, it was really special and I had an even greater sense of appreciation of the community aspect of filmmaking. Hot Tears has played at the Greenpoint Film Festival, New Filmmakers NY, and won best performance at the East Brunswick Film Festival. Read more>>
Elizabeth Barlow
A few years ago, I was asked to create a painting for a vineyard home in Sonoma. The homeowner and his wife lost their home in the 2017 Wine Country fires, barely escaping with their lives. Everything on the property was destroyed and the only things that survived were the vines and one rose bush. Even more tragedy followed when the wife died that year. But then something miraculous happened. That single rose bush began to bloom gloriously. The homeowner decided to build a new house on the same site and asked me to create a 6-foot painting of that rose bush for the new home. I took hundreds of photos of the roses to use as references, and then back in my studio created a painting that captured the strength and resilience of this beautiful life force. Read more>>
The Eclectic Beings
It’s a tie between the release of our projects; our full length debut project “Elated Thoughts” in 2015 and our EP “Late Bloomer” in 2021. Those are both musical snapshots of what we’ve been creating since we decided to become a duo in 2010. On both projects we explored different subgenres within EDM (Electronic Dance Music) while fusing them with other genres like R&B,Soul,Jazz,Funk & Gospel. Sonically, we kept things warm, bright and upbeat while being experimental and expressive. We’re proud of those bodies of work and we’re looking forward to our continued evolution as people and as musicians. Read more>>
Julie Phillips
It’s hard to choose my most “meaningful project.” It’s a bit like choosing a favorite child, and as I say to my kids, “I love you both equally.” My go-to answer is usually my very first project, my short comedy, “One Hot Day,” because it was my first. It was my first time writing a script, my first time producing, my first time as the lead, my first time as EVERYTHING! It was about a day in the life of a menopausal woman suffering from hot flashes whose life and marriage had lost their passion. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I learned very quickly out of necessity. And the best part? It resonated with so many people. My whole purpose as an artist and filmmaker is to give voice to underrepresented women over 50 in an authentic, often humorous way. And when that content is relatable and resonates with an audience? Well, that’s just the cherry on top! Read more>>
Molly Holmes
For me, there’s not one project that has been more meaningful than any other, but making art that represents me has been incredibly important to me. I think that allowing myself to make art that is fun and funky and weird has been so freeing, and is actually an act of self love. I feel like my art is speaking to a younger version of me that used to think she had to be perfect, and that everything she did had to be perfect in order to be loved. The Art that I make now has none of that pressure put on it. Everything I make now feels loose and fun and joyful. I turn on my podcast at night and detach from reality for a few hours, surrounded by bones and doll parts and thrift store trinkets, all things that make me happy but would have distanced me from others growing up. Read more>>
David Mecklenburg
Deukollectrum is an illustrated collection of short prose-poem essays as related through my Unseen Gemini Half and Muse, Ada Ludenow. The conceit is that I illustrate the work she writes, although of course she *is* me in a way as well. The strangest thing though is when she completely deviates from my experiences and creates something new. It really is often “taking dictation” for her as she describes some aspect of her life. But in so doing, I know that with her full access pass to my subconscious, she finds and recreates events and experiences that meant a lot to me. Even if they never happened. Read more>>