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?
Karolina Sivas
It comes up a lot when I do an interview, but creating my own work has been the most meaningful for me. More specifically, I created a digital dramedy series called “Broken At Love,” which ran for three seasons (only halting due to the pandemic). I also was the executive producer, casting director, director, and show runner for the series – so I was involved in every detail. It was semi autobiographical and I really poured a lot of my thoughts and emotions into the text. As I moved on from season to season, I was writing things as I was experiencing them in real time. I also got to screen episodes in festivals around the US, meet other fantastic creatives to collaborate with, and move to New York for an entire season. With the way the world has been the last few years, independent filmmaking has felt a bit more daunting, but I’m excited to be writing and working on my next project. Read more>>
DANIELE Oliveira
Projects that are in full swing are: Zoe The Community, that means life. Where me and two other facilitating friends, Rose Liddi and Kimberly Nicole, together welcome people to feel safe to be who they truly are. We promote the flowering of authenticity, growth and resilience. We learn, rise and overcome challenges, elevate life and flourish as a close-knit community towards empowerment and transformation. We do retreats, events, meetings, birthdays, bridal shower, whatever you wants hire us, we go! Read more>>
Alexander Hersh
Here’s a premise, what if Wes Anderson and Larry David had a baby? And what if that baby played the cello? Weird, right? Let me introduce you to ABSINTHE, a creative joyride, three years in the making, unlike anything else in classical music. ABSINTHE has two main components: The first is an album of music–all written from before the 1915 European ban of that infamous drink, ‘Absinthe’. The album includes music by Ravel, Nadia Boulanger, Lily Boulanger, and Janacek. Read more>>
Trey Broomfield
Working on meaningful projects is essential to many people’s success, including my own. As a person who’s driven by purpose, cultivating meaning in my projects keeps me going on the days when quitting would be easier. One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on is being developed right now. The current title of this project is “These Words Are Everything” and is centered around language and communication in relation to at-risk youth. Read more>>
Sabrina Roualdes
Every project has something incredibly meaningful about it. Sometimes it’s the subject matter, other times it’s the impact it will have on a community or the world. What makes a project truly meaningful to me are the unspoken, sometimes subtle aspects of what each video represents and can bring up for the business owners I work with. Videography and photography are both massively moving mediums, and what I love about my niche is that I get to capture and amplify a brands mission and success. I love receiving an email from my clients once a project is completed, with them shocked at the quality and personal meaning of the end result to them. I love to be of service through this profession, it’s the greatest gift. Read more>>
Jac Carson
On July 21st (the eve of my 30th birthday), we will be releasing my first studio album. After 5 years and 30 songs over 6 EPs, I have compiled a full collection of songs, written and honed down south. A reflection of time spent in a new home and a new chapter of life, a slice of the sounds of Austin we call “New Texas Groove”. Read more>>
Heidi Schultz
My latest children’s book, “Little Dinky’s Big Adventure”, follows a baby hummingbird from his birth to his first flight with all of the predicaments & obstacles along the way that makes his determination to reach his dream of flying even more important. The book is based off of a real baby hummingbird and includes actual photos of his journey outside my kitchen window. It captures two parts of my heart…the joy that hummingbirds bring to so many people and the encouragement to never give up on dreams (which rings very true for me as an actress/writer). We all need those little things in life that lift our spirits, and hummingbirds do just that every time I see one. Read more>>
Kaitlyn Jo Smith
I make art as a way to understand my time and place in the world. For me it is incredibly important that I tell meaningful stories through my work. I am constantly asking my students when they are conceptualizing projects: Why do you care? Why should I? If those questions can’t be answered why are you creating the piece at all? I grew up in a rural, midwest, farming community. These are the people I love and the stories I hold closest to my heart. These are also the voices I notice missing from urban gallery and museum spaces. Through my work I am trying to create pathways for understanding between socio-economic divides through representation. Read more>>
ARIS ALVARADO
I’ve been in the cast of “The Diary of Anne Frank” LatinX since 2018. We have done 6 runs of the show in various theaters from the Dorie Theatre on Theater Row, Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills, Chutzpah! Festival in Vancouver and the Colony Theatre in Burbank. We are returning again to close out the 3rd annual El Centro Del Sur Latinx Theater Festival: Tu Hogar at A Place Called Home Theater September 17th at 7pm and three 10am shows September 19th, 20th and 21st at the Colony Theater. Read more>>
MARCIA CARROLL
I’ve been in the entertainment industry in a professional capacity for most of my life as an actor, writer, producer and director. It always amazes me how much personal experience dictates one’s creative journey. Seven years ago, a dear friend’s daughter committed suicide at the age of 16. Her name was Grace Loncar. Eight days after Grace’s death, her father, a prominent Dallas attorney, Brian Loncar, died from a drug-induced heart attack. This double tragedy completely devastated my friend and her family. While I can’t begin to fathom the depths of their anguish, I do know how these losses affected me and my own family. Read more>>
Jakayla Bridges
One of my most meaningful projects turned into one of my greatest accomplishments. When I worked at Vincent high school, I just thought I was there to be an academic advocate for the students that I was working with, until I noticed the challenges that a lot of the children were facing outside of their school work. While speaking with a student about her financial concerns and idea blossomed to help her have the perfect prom experience for her senior year. As a makeup artist, I was able to provide free makeup services, but we did not have the money to get her a dress. We began reaching out to community members and teachers about possibly providing her a prom dress so that she would be able to go. Read more>>
Sreejith Nair
I grew up loving movies with dinosaurs, such as Disney’s Dinosaur, Jurassic Park, King Kong, Land Before Time, etc. and it was always my dream to make a movie with dinosaurs, with actors of my South Asian descent. I came across this book, The Adventures of Padma and a Blue Dinosaur, by Vaishali Shroff. Vaishali’s book taught me all about dinosaurs discovered in India, and I was so inspired to immediately write my dream short film. I teamed up with Vaishali to write a short film called “Rajasaur”, about a father and daughter living in prehistoric India, who must embark on a dangerous mission to return the lost egg of a Rajasaurus, India’s most dangerous dinosaur, but a much more evil creature is after the egg too. Read more>>
Amanda Burck
In the past year, I’ve done a lot of meaningful projects for example doing some to help others and make them feel beautiful. One of the most meaningful projects I’ve done was for school but enjoyed and learned a lot from the experience. The project was about doing a public experiment with time. To start I came up with questions not a lot of people think about or ask. I looked and did research on what would be good for a project. The question that came from a self-help journal was What would you do if you weren’t afraid? as that’s a very long question. I chose to cut it down and write Share a secret anonymously on a poster board with a box that said For an art student for a local project. Read more>>
Jay Snipes
One of my most meaningful projects is hosting my podcast, “Generation Motivation: The Podcast.” The podcast focuses on highlighting those in the community using their platform to effect positive change. We all have a story and my purpose is to be a catalyst in helping those stories get told in hopes they will bless others. Read more>>
Samantha Ginn
Most recently, the most meaningful project I’ve worked on was directing a play called “Stellaluna” starring all actors with disabilities. This play was based off the beloved children’s book written by Janell Cannon. The script was then adapted by Aleta Barthell to fit the needs of each actor. All of the puppets and costumes in the play were made by designers with neurodiversity as well. Read more>>
Eva Nye
My husband and I struggled for 5 years trying to have a baby. During that time I went through numerous infertility treatments and heart breaking losses. One day when I had received a box with needles, syringes and medical supplies for another cycle I looked at the materials and knew I had to try to make something beautiful and meaningful from our painful experiences. Driving to a blood draw during one of the cycles, the idea came to me: Madonna and Child. I spent the next few month making three 7’ tall collages from not only my own medical supplies, but women from my support group contributed too. The tryptic art piece is now part of a book called “Infertilities, A Curation” and is available from Wayne State University Press in September. It was edited by Elizabeth Horn, Maria Novotny, and Robin Silbergleid Read more>>
Daniel Velasco
The most meaningful projects I’ve worked on was being a musician for Yuridia’s “Pa’ Luego Es Tarde” Tour and Emmanuel’s “Toda La Vida” Tour. Backstory: I started playing sousaphone (tuba) in 2011 when I was in high school, and I would practice non-stop because I wanted to be one of the best musicians and be invited on tour someday. When I got out of high school, I did start touring with small bands at first, but it wasn’t until 2016 when I started to work with Adriel Favela/Gerencia 360, that I started to get noticed by more musicians due to the artist’s reputation. Read more>>
Justine Gera
A really meaningful project that I recently was apart of came at an amazing time for me in my life. I was cast in the ensemble for Season 2 of Schmigadoon! on Apple TV+. I actually auditioned for the first season back in 2020 and made it through to callbacks, but in the end was not cast. When the second season was in the process of casting new dancers, I was happy to give it another shot! I personally went through 4 auditions total for the series: a self tape, zoom callback, and then read for two different roles. I think it took a month or so to find out that I had been booked! It was incredibly rewarding to have been taken a chance on and that the hard work paid off! Read more>>
MC BOB
I remember when I reached a point in my life where I didn’t really know how to feel. I was fresh out of high school, and there was just an immense wave of emotions/thoughts that flooded my mind. As a result of this, I hit rock bottom with my music itself. I would spend hours listening to rappers such as J Cole, Kendrick, Eminem, Outkast, Mobb Deep, thinking to myself… “How can I write like this?” After hours of deep reflection and perfecting my craft, I ended up creating a project called “I’m Batman” in which I made one of my most lyrical songs “Happy Meal” (only available on Soundcloud). At the time I still wasn’t as known as I am today, so the project flopped heavily. Read more>>
Jeremiah Gray
January 2023, we launched a new music project called Virtual Nobodies. The title is tongue-in-cheek; at the end of the day, we’re all Nobodies. Defining our own genre we coined ‘coastal desert alt-rock, Xavier Valdez (X) and I wrote our first single, Just So You Know, on a whim. The tune was enough wind in our sails that we launched this project together. It’s a rare artist that is THAT interesting on their own, so we’re lucky enough to work with Jack Veenstra, a phenomenal illustrator, who is running point creating landscape murals of the world in which these characters and songs live. I’ve always been a fan of the way Gorillaz incorporated multiple mediums of art into their world, and with Jack Veenstra unique style, we’re adding a depth and a world that most bands don’t incorporate. Read more>>
Christine Lee Smith
Over the years of my practice as an artist, I’ve been fortunate to be a part of many meaningful gallery shows and photographic projects. However, when I think about my most meaningful project I think about the work I do with my clients in a practice called spiritual direction. Spiritual direction is a historical Christian practice where together we explore where God is inviting you in the midst of your life through one-on-one conversations. It is a space of holy listening. Typically this is an ongoing relationship (like counseling), but unlike counseling the goal is to help you more deeply connect with the Divine and have a better sense of what you’re being invited to through the events of your daily life. Read more>>
Ronnie Spice
I had the opportunity to work with an extremely talented electronic artist and producer from Mallorca Spain. He goes by the name “Hank Goro” and we just recently released a track titled “ In Your F#%+=+€ Face remix. One of the reasons I found this project so meaningful is that we have never met both live in two different parts of the world. Yet despite that we have been able to put our talents together and release a song that not only is doing well out there but one I personally am very proud of. Read more>>
Chanya Crane
The most meaningful project I have worked on is my small business, The Kindness Kampaign. The Kindness Kampaign spreads awareness for mental health and suicide prevention through products and events. The biggest event I have organized through The Kindness Kampaign is an event called Kind House. Kind House is more than just an event; it’s an interactive experience dedicated to mental health awareness and suicide prevention and is everything we embody as a business. Inside an actual house, you’ll find musicians, vendors, and relatability. The events mission is to make your mind a kind place to live in. Kind House is inspired through the several people I know who have lost their lives to suicide. Read more>>
KG Green
Undoubtedly, my most impactful project has been collaborating with rising rap sensation Lola Brooke. I’ve created captivating artwork for her hit tracks like “Gator Season,” “Dummy Ummy,” and “Don’t Play With It.” This artistic synergy elevated her music, and our joint efforts were celebrated with the RIAA gold plaque, a testament to the song’s remarkable success. This experience exemplifies the fusion of music and visual art at its finest, reminding me of the possibilities when passion and creativity unite. Read more>>
Carla Keaton
For as long as I can remember, I have always had a passion for the arts and sciences. Initially, I attended Minneapolis College of Art and Design, as a graphic design major, which was not fulfilling. I mostly enjoyed my drawing and writing courses and decided to transfer to the University of Minnesota as a studio arts major with a minor in bioanthropology. I attended the University of Minnesota for 2 years before relocating to Arizona. Once again, I transferred schools and finally received my degree in fine art and bioanthropology. Read more>>
Destini Stacy
All of my work is meaningful to me, but with each release I grow deeper into myself as a creative and I become more and more comfortable being truly vulnerable. With that in mind, I’d have to say the project I am working on now is the most meaningful to me. It is finally coming together after I took over a year to just live and create for myself in private. In the time since my last project I have grown through s0 much. I lost what felt like everything , and got it all back. I lost friends , and then made better ones. I’ve grieved and conquered and rediscovered myself and my sound. To me, this project feels like forgiveness and stability, and peace.. and there are few things more meaningful than those concepts. Read more>>
Aaron Horrell and Barb Bailey
The Missouri Bicentennial Mural is our most meaningful project to date. It was a 3 1/2 year project, beginning at its inception in June 2018 to its installation on a wall inside the Harry S Truman Building in Jefferson City, Missouri, in May 2022. Aaron came up with “Paint For A Cause” in the spring of 2015. His idea was to give visitors to his Painted Wren Art Gallery an easy way to get involved in art and to raise money for local charitable organizations. For the first few years, Aaron had a drawing printed on a stretched canvas. Then visitors to the gallery were invited to donate $1 and paint on the canvas. Aaron or I (Barb) would put acrylic paint on a small paint brush and the visitor would paint a small area on the canvas. Read more>>
Tira Zhang
From 2022 to 2023, I was fully immersed in a game project called ASTELLA. It was a unique experience where I put a lot of emphasis on something called “environmental storytelling.” This basically means that the game’s setting and surroundings play a big part in telling the story. To make this concept shine, I took a different approach than I usually would. I really dived deep into the background details and intricacies of the game’s lore. In ASTELLA, players get to explore this place called the Grand Library. It used to be this super important spot for scholars in a kingdom that’s long gone. These scholars were absolutely fixated on stars and the cosmic realm. Their fascination actually led them to develop spells that could mess with space and time, using energy from the stars. Read more>>
Benoit Izard
Meaningful projects are those that came out of an evidence : just do it. When I performed in Africa, I didn’t think of the implications, the pros and cons, the difficulties or its place in the art world ; I wanted to do it and I made it happen. It was in resonance with me, and it was meaningful for the performers and spectators, who were part of something “big” in their life, and eventually it became meaningful in the political history of the country when it was used (without me knowing it) to support the revolution. The LOVE art installations I did at 1 Hotel South Beach were also one of those : it was a spontaneous idea, out of the box ; I had to work to make it happen but I had no question if I should or not do it ; as a result people were very excited, it created lot of joy, and one penthouse that was designed was sold the day after. Read more>>
Cristina White-Jones
One of the most meaningful projects that I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of has been the Bold beauty project. Bold Beauty project pairs photographers with women from all different backgrounds that have varying disabilities. Do to an unfortunate fall that I had as a child, that led to numerous surgeries into adult hood, I’ve been permanently disabled since my teens. The photographers and women worked together to create beautiful portraits that basically tell each woman’s story, showing the woman and who she really is not just her disability, which I feel like is so important. Often times the disabled population is shown as weak and unable, and these portraits portray the complete opposite. They show strength and the capability and willingness to rise above, no matter what. Bold Beauty Project has become global project now spreading art and disability awareness world wide. https://www.boldbeautyproject.com Read more>>
SLEEP NATION
September 29 of this year my alternative rock band, Sleep Nation, will be releasing our sophomore album, “And Then There Were 2…” The 20-song album was almost entirely created and crafted from just 2 individuals. We feel like that since becoming a 2-piece, we have produced so much more music. Joey and I get in the rehearsal room and just start creating new riffs, songs, and ideas. The creativity pours out of us. Our 2nd full-length album title “And Then There Were 2…” is a tribute to the Genesis album titled “And Then There Were 3…” Genesis went through a very similar transition concerning band members. So we wanted to give salutations to our heroes while making our own mark in this upside-down reality known as the 2023 music business. Read more>>
Rucha Kumthekar
Any projects that are presented to us, as creatives, can become works that deeply reflect our experience through the style and approach. The focal point of a project can allow us to navigate an aesthetic direction that we have not tackled before. Being presented such projects is a blessing in disguise and I was challenged by one of my studio projects to create a structure based on a poem. While this may seem straightforward, I needed to explore the ideas of iteration and disregard any initial ideas I had for the project. This forced me to think further than just the initial ideas and develop more complicated and sophisticated designs. The reason this was a meaningful moment was because I discovered how to push past the early creative thoughts I had, and learn the importance of the artistic process. Read more>>
Edgar Alejandro
Last year, our small team from Las Vegas made a truly gripping Indie Film. But don’t take my word for it, watch our 40 Second Trailer linked at the bottom of this article: As the writer and director of this story, I’m pleased to announce that our Film won “Best LGBTQ Film” At the Las Vegas International Film & Screenwriting Festival as well as “Best Director” at the Silver State Film Festival. The film’s lead actors are both diverse females as well! Read more>>
Scott Haskin
It is tough to say what the MOST meaningful project has been because they all have great meaning to me but, I would say my Mental Sauna music series has been important because it has helped people with severe insomnia, it has helped prevent suicide and people have even put it on their birthing playlist. I’ve had some great guests on the HaskinCast Podcast. Also, my second podcast, Uriah Heep – The Magician’s Podcast, helped people dig into the 50+ year career of one of my favorite bands. There’s just so much! Read more>>
Akpanoluo Etteh
One night during the summer of 2015, Pharrell Williams appeared in my dreams. Donning one of his big hats, he walked down a supermarket aisle toward me. When he reached me, he asked: “what happened to your aspirations in music, Akpanoluo”? I woke up distraught. Pharrell Williams had inspired me to become a producer in high school, but not knowing where to start, and with the louder familial messages encouraging me to pursue medicine, I left that aside. But passions have a tendency to catch up with you: despite excelling in the sciences and studying psychology and neuroscience at Yale, I realized during my final semester in 2010, while studying for the MCAT, that medicine was quite literally the last thing I wanted to pursue. Read more>>
Jackson Keehn
I’m always blown away by the trust when I’m given the opportunity to do a portrait of a person’s loved one. The margin for error is virtually nonexsistent. It has to be perfect. When it’s a loved one being tattooed, it is a face that the client has already memorized every detail of. These are always incredibly meaningful to the client and to me. Read more>>
Christopher “Boats” Oshana
In 2013 I was granted work space at the monOrchid, which was a collaborative work place, photo/video studio and gallery, to pursue a project “For the Good”, the project that I started and continue to work on is called PTSD, The Invisible Scar. The project consists of Veteran with diagnosed with PTS, whether they are male or female, white, black, Hispanic, regardless of their religious background. I have heard from numerous Veterans that I have interviewed or even just talked to about the project that they would rather talk to someone that has “been there, done that”. Read more>>
Dan Brenkert
“No Limit” by Crazy & the Brains is easily the most meaningful project I have done so far. Its the first of seven new tracks by the band that mark a evolutionary chapter for the band. I met these guys back in April of 2022 and ever since, our meeting felt almost supernatural in a way. At the time, I was starting a new editing job, taking a break from shooting music videos, and was dealing with the inevitable losses of my Aunt Dawn and Uncle Bobby. I was listening to Love Kills by the Ramones, a song that reminded me of my Uncle, as he lived a similar “live fast” lifestyle as Dee Dee Ramone. Read more>>
Shawn Dunwoody
To me, the essence of meaningful artistic endeavors lies in the journey of self-discovery within each project. It’s a dual pursuit: one where I unearth my authentic self and, in turn, contribute to the enrichment of others’ lives and spark the emergence of novel thoughts and perspectives. My aspiration has always been to embody the change I wish to witness as an African American artist. This aspiration led me to immerse myself in the realm of public art, a platform that allows me to craft a tangible impact within communities. By sharing my artistic expressions openly, I strive to provide a beacon of representation for individuals who, like me in their formative years, yearn to see diversity in creative production. Read more>>
The Depressionistas
Like minded and mining our influences from the archives of 80’s, 90’s, Goth, Folk, Post-Punk and Hard Rock, we, The Depressionistas reside in the juxtapositions in melody and aggression, embracing the contrasts in song. Gallows humor and resolute in vision, The Depressionistas were born in a pandemic, making art while the world shut down. Covid circles and late nights default when everything’s stopped-and yet, there suddenly was the time. Time necessary to explore without pressure of public eyes or public consumption. Turning a moment of distress and uncertainty into opportunity for focusing on what is relevant, The Depressionistas turned to making music to reflect that. From first meeting through mutual friends online, to collaborating in person. Read more>>
Kalogenic
For the last two years, I’ve been working on a photo series of human connection, lovingly dubbed Human Nature. This body of work brings together people from all walks of life to converge in a safe, healing, artistic space that is free of judgement and filled with love of the self and love of all. It’s been such a beautiful journey not only for my fine art but for the genuine connections I’ve formed with the people involved, and how they’ve grown to know each other as family along the way. I feel so much gratitude to be apart of such a tender, caring art community. Read more>>
Eden Royce
I belong to a relatively little known community in the Southern United States – the Gullah Geechee. Until recently, whenever I would tell people of my heritage/background, I was met with blank stares or the forthright question: “What’s that?” from adults and children alike. While I always loved reading as a child, I’d never seen a kids book set in the part of the world I am from, South Carolina, that focused on the culture of my people, the Gullah Geechee. Because seeing yourself represented in media is incredibly validating, especially for young people, I knew I had to write a book that featured the locale, language, and traditions of my people. Read more>>
Marisa Mu
One of the most meaningful projects I produce is with my Co-Founder for our platform Tits & Co. This is foremost an online community and platform that recognises, supports and celebrates female and gender non-conforming artists from all over the world. We have started doing in person art fairs where I have curated and produced here in Melbourne as a way to bridge the gap between the under-representation of female and gender non conforming artists within the commercial art world. We aim to give these communities a voice and give them the opportunity to network, connect and build their arts practice with the support and resources that Tits & Co. offer. Read more>>
Andrew Rurik
We are actually still in the process of completing one of the most meaningful projects I’ve gotten to work on, so stay tuned for full details coming next year! What I can say about this project — a documentary feature — is that we’re following the recovery journey of a survivor of multiple strokes, work through physical therapy and training for a big adventure: getting out into the backcountry once again and going backpacking with his friends. Read more>>