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?

Meredith Yinger

After four years of blood, sweat, and tears, I am in the finishing stages of directing and producing my first feature documentary called Scars Unseen – which is a ‘triumph of the human spirit’ documentary following three women who have overcome domestic violence and are paying it forward. I have friends and family members that have been affected by domestic violence. Some of which have come forward and shared their stories with me during the process of creating this film. It has been heartwrenching, eye-opening, but more than anything it has been motivating. This has been motivating me to keep pushing this story forward and to not give up no matter how many challenges I might face. Read more>>

Greg Cohen

All my personal projects are meaningful to me. I only begin a something if I have a strong connection with it. Farewell to Arms was a project I made in response to the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary and the national reaction to it. It was deeply upsetting and like so many others, I was in shock and felt helpless. I was only familiar with school shootings as stories in the news from other places in the country. This time it happened where I grew up. It was suddenly very real, and I was overwhelmed with a range of intense emotions. Read more>>

Frances Whitford

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on was developing a cultural exchange program between Chicago-based Little Fire artists and dancers in San Jose, Costa Rica. A dear friend who I danced with while at the Hubbard Street Professional Program, Jose Ventura, invited us for a residency in his hometown, and we spent a year developing the program together. Over the two weeks we spent in Costa Rica, Little Fire Artists taught daily warm-up classes, facilitated a creation process with local professionals, and led an intensive for pre-professionals. At the end of the two weeks, we had a show for the public to share what we’d worked on. After the show, we had a Q&A with the audience. Their feedback about what we created was informative and inspiring. I knew the experience was going to be magical, but it far surpassed my expectations. Read more>>

Robert Llauro

I like to work on projects where I feel there’s a challenge and that everyone is on board on the same boat pushing forward. I enjoy working with clients and creative teams that aim for the best creative results and that want to achieve that as a whole. Read more>>

Megan Frances

My most meaningful recent project was my 2021 solo exhibition at Gallery 825. It involved more than a year of work – from conceptualization and the actual painting to installation. What I find most gratifying about having a solo show is the opportunity to present a thematically connected series of work built entirely around my own vision. It’s a thrill to launch something real from the depths of the imagination. Read more>>

Charis Sellick

I have been fortunate enough to have been a part of a lot of meaningful projects. I recently produced my first mini-series on YouTube called Death Mettle. It was a project I knew would be really challenging since I produced, directed, edited and was in it. It was for sure something that took me out of my comfort zone and I am really impressed with the product, a true testament to collaboration and having very talented friends. My friend Brewer Kunnemann wrote the script and its very heartfelt, following a fictional songwriter whos song gets stolen. It’s fictional but also tells a very real story of fandom, how women are treated in the internet space and what you do when you know no on will believe you. Read more>>

Stephanie Michel Rodriguez

I think the most emotionally impactful project that I’ve worked on so far was a short film entitled “Ya Queremos Pastel.” In the film I play a 17-year-old mother of two that had to leave her children in her home country so she can work in the U.S. and send funds back to them. I’m first-generation Mexican-American and this is a story I have heard and seen many times within my own family. Getting to explore the complicated emotions that come with something like this and bringing the story to life was something that really meant a lot to me. Read more>>

Reza Monahan

A recent meaningful project is an exhibition I co-curated (with art theorist Jan Tumlir and artist/curator, Marcus Herse) and featured work in titled – “Split Diopter.” The cinematic device known as split diopter might be described as the camera’s equivalent of bifocal glasses, a supplementary half-lens applied over an existing one, so that one side of the view is trained on what is close and the other on what is farther away. In the uncannily sharp image—at once deep and shallow—that appears onscreen, a seam can sometimes be detected, running right down the middle. Read more>>

David Lee

Education and art have been intertwined throughout my career as a full-time community college professor and art gallery director/curator. I’ve devoted over two decades to curating and organizing exhibitions in Orange County, California, providing a platform for local artists to showcase their talents. Read more>>

Rachel Repinz

Right now I’m working with my interdisciplinary dance-based company, RACHEL:dancers (pronounced Rachel and dancers), to create a new evening-length work that uses a multi-sensory approach to integrating access systems (like audio description) into dance performance. It’s really exciting because it’s the first time I’m truly integrating my scholarly work with my artistic practice at such a deep level. I’m working with a cast of musicians, dancers, and access professionals to create an immersive performance experience that really pushes against the norms of access and performance to create something new. Read more>>

Justin Froning

There are a lot of projects I’ve been proud of or that put some pep in my step, but there were a few that come to mind as projects that made a profound impact on my development or greatly impacted my confidence as a creative (I’ve learned that I’m not alone in experiencing impostor syndrome). It wasn’t my first gig poster, but the first time I worked with an artist that I’d admired for years was my poster for Wilco’s show in Seattle back in 2015. I loved the concept of a songbird casting a shadow that turns into an owl peering back at him imposingly. The idea was that this thing he feared was also a powerful presence inside himself, and that resonated with me. Apparently it resonated with fans, too, because that sold out at the show and was one of my quickest sellouts of artist prints. Read more>>

Charissa Whillock

The most meaningful part of my career settles neatly in the music scene on Twitch.TV. This live streaming platform fosters the “best keep secret” of music on the internet. Here you can see musicians performing from their personal studios all around the globe. This online platform is especially powerful for tenacious and eclectic performers to build a community around their unique talents. The nature of this type of long-form content creates an audience that is more interested in the philosophies behind the content creator, and so, the platform creates an inherently deep connection with viewer and streamer. Read more>>

Ruby Barrios

Seeing Ruby’s Button: The Musical come to life at Inner City Arts continues to be the most meaningful project. Ruby’s Button: The Musical, is based on my children’s book. The story follows a young girl named Ruby who has a missing belly button from undergoing many surgeries. Ruby’s character is a reflection of my own journey being born with a chronic illness. Ruby’s character also raises awareness of how our bodies can change and should always be celebrated. Through the book, I’ve had the honor of deepening my connection with families within the chronic illness community and more importantly, celebrating our stories. Read more>>

Pritesh Walia

In my journey as a musician, I’ve come to believe that each project I undertake holds a profound and unique meaning. Whether I’m performing for an audience or immersing myself in a personal creative endeavor, I view every project as a canvas for exploring and expressing my individual artistic voice. Currently, I’m privileged to find myself in an exhilarating position, as I’m deeply involved in four substantial and deeply meaningful projects. Read more>>

Aby Rao

As an independent filmmaker, my passion has always gravitated toward crafting narratives that illuminate the extraordinary lives of immigrants and refugees. In my maiden venture, I delved into the poignant tale of a middle-aged Tibetan refugee crossing paths with a Dominican-American truck driver. This filmmaking odyssey profoundly shaped my artistic sensibilities, molding my style, tone, and narrative predilections. In the wake of this transformative experience, I made a steadfast commitment to chronicle the diverse and nuanced experiences of refugees and immigrants. Read more>>

Kathi Flood

My mission to serve as a ‘guerrilla sociologist’ implies that I can function both inside and outside of Los Angeles culture. Although I’d be the first one in line to buy a trendy pet rock and get sucked into that flurry of sentimentality, I am also an analytical cynic, getting headaches from lots of eyerolling. Three particularly meaningful projects that I have tackled include a two room installation at Barnsdall Municipal Galleries called TALK HEAVY TO ME, a commission that describes the weird underpinnings of Woodland Hills, and a 25 panel mural done by myself and my students in the Admin Building at Taft High School. Read more>>

Joyce Yueyi Xing

Over the past few years, I have produced several films of different lengths and genres with young Asian female filmmakers. It’s always a pleasure for me as a creative producer to see these original stories from these new voices. Among the short films I produced, In the Dusk follows an elder Shaman in the Mongolian grassland searching for the rebirth of her grandson; Good Taste features a young Korean woman in New York City going through a horrifying date night with a white couple; Yu Under Water presents the brief encounter of two Chinese young women during a hike. Each of these stories has its own unique perspectives while they all focus on different scenarios in our daily lives that are rarely represented on the big screen. Making these stories alive is what I find most meaningful in my work. Read more>>

Victoria Carlson

In the midst of being diagnosed with ALS, we had to readjust our expectations, our home, and my life as a creative. Read more>>

Tjasa Owen Land & Seascape Artist

I have always been a painter… inspired mainly by the sea, I am drawn to large seascape paintings on both canvas, paper, reclaimed boxes, driftwood…you name it. Having shown in galleries for years, my price point was driven by solo exhibitions and representation. During the pandemic, we were all at home, the neighborhood where my Studio was in San Francisco was boarded up and I was now working from our house. I kept thinking…how do I do this? How do I paint large collections for closed up galleries and no personal interaction? That is when I started working small…very small…little watercolors on paper. I didn’t know how to price my work, so I thought I would keep the prices very affordable and start my artistic dialogue with my clients on instagram. Read more>>

serena van rensselaer

I am presently working on a most meaningful and inspired project. I have always loved the book, Le Petit Prince, and the quote below from this book inspires me daily, and reminds me to follow my heart always. “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry This project is a true love story, filled with inspiration, magic, profound challenges, deep growing pains, insightful lessons and so much more. Read more>>