Working on something meaningful is a common desire – but how? We started asking folks to share the story of how they ended up working on a project they felt was meaningful because we wanted inspiration but also because we wondered if hearing from people from across a range of industries would help us identify patterns making it more likely for anyone to be able to find and work on projects that they would find meaningful.
Billy Munoz
So I play in a Ska/Reggae band prominently called The Skatastrophics, but I did write a rock and roll album with a project I started called The Riptide Phantoms, It started, pretty much in bed recovering from a major back surgery I bought an acoustic guitar and acoustic bass from Amazon,and just pretty much wrote everything out in bed it was definitely a different experience writing an album in those conditions, but it was definitely a good way to take my mind off of what I was going through so that’s why the project was so meaningful to me. Read more>>
Tamla Boone
Seventy-Seven Percent is a deeply personal work exploring ancestry, identity, and cultural memory. The exhibition was sparked by a decisive discovery in my DNA profile: 77% of my heritage connects directly to six West African countries—Nigeria, Mali, Cameroon, Ghana, Benin, and Senegal. Read more>>
G. Thomas Allen
Working on my third album, Dream Shades, has been a deeply meaningful project. It invites listeners into a dreamlike universe where it’s okay to be your unique self and to embrace the many shades of your journey. Life is fluid—sometimes beautiful, sometimes perilous—and this project captures that movement through the lens of astrology and mythology, while also pulling from my classical background to shape its sonic landscapes; set to release summer 2025. Read more>>
Chrisbert Telesford
The most meaningful project ive ever worked on thus far is called Vibr8tions by myself (Algorythm-C).
Its a musical project that i created that embodies the sound of the music that i create on my workstation at home. I sat down and over the years crafted together a musical masterpiece that i always go back and listen to and Quizzically ponder on how I even came up with each track.. Its meaningful to me because of the time it took for me to create the project. The titles also illustrate my thought process for each song from my wife to even having humility and being grateful for to God. Read more>>
Carmen Moreno
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my online photography school on Patreon. For years, photography has been more than a profession for me — it’s been a way to express emotions, tell stories, and connect deeply with people and places. After dedicating a big part of my life to visual storytelling, I realized that the knowledge, experience, and passion I’ve gathered could actually inspire and empower others. Read more>>
Lauren Wolfer
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on was launching the first-ever Coachella Valley Filipino Festival while I was Program Director at the Palm Springs Cultural Center. My partner is Filipino, and I’ve always had a deep appreciation for the culture- I grew up with many Filipino friends and have a real love for the community. There was some skepticism during planning about whether there’d be enough interest, but the response was overwhelming! Thousands of people showed up, our vendors sold out, and the energy was incredible. Read more>>
Liat Benezra
The most meaningful project I have ever worked on would have to be my feature film, Lisa and Liza. I co-wrote and directed it with my best friend almost six years ago. We wanted to create a story about female friendship, love and loss, and girlhood – in the campiest manner imaginable. It was a long and exhausting process, involving over 50 creatives and collaborators, and took years and years of work. The film was actually released this April, and is finally available for viewing on YouTube! However, what started as a labor of love, ended as a solo project of my own. Read more>>
Kit Joseph
My most meaningful project is the work I do with my band the Pew Pew Pews.
It started with my friend Ravi working on artwork for an EP for him and then we decided to stick together to continue working on stuff. I am not a musician but I was so integral to the creative process we just formed the 2 man band, the Pew Pew Pews. He handles the music and I handle the visuals even videos. Read more>>
Junling Zhuang
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on is Nestwork – a design research initiative that reimagines how people interact with architectural design—making it more accessible, personal, and creatively collaborative through artificial intelligence. Read more>>
Ulku Uzun
This project was one we developed for the municipality in Istanbul, Turkiye. I was part of a women’s volunteer group working in Sisli, a district of Istanbul, providing education and support to children, youth, and women living below the poverty line. Read more>>
Art Eddy
One of the most meaningful projects that I have worked on over at the Art of Fatherhood was when I teamed up with BetterHelp. I created articles and conducted a podcast on how dads need to take care of their mental health. A few dads that I know are struggling with their mental health. Unfortunately, a few of them took their own lives. So I reached out to BetterHelp to see if we could work together to normalize dads making sure they take time to heal. Read more>>
Ziv Kartaginer
Last November I did my first live concert with an ensemble I put together called “The Middle Eastern Big Band”. The ensemble showcases my original music along with arrangements of well-known songs, and it includes wind instruments, strings, rhythm section, and middle eastern instruments, such as Qanun, Darbuka, a microtonal trumpet, and more. The ensemble includes people from all over the world (on the last show we had musicians from 12 different countries from the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and America). The musicians come from different backgrounds – musically and culturally – and together we create a very unique and eclectic sound, combining jazz, classical, middle eastern, hard rock, and more. The live album is going to be released this summer, along with videos from the show. Read more>>
Stacy Beckly
My film The Kids Are Alright is the most meaningful project I’ve worked on because I thought it, I wrote it and I made it. We filmed it in one day. I proved to myself I could envision a film and then create it. I now know, I truly believe in myself, that I can make the things I dream of, happen. After sending my youngest off to his first day of school and experiencing how stressful I felt I came up with the film idea. My youngest son Ronnie is in it, he is the voiceover for my son in the film Michael. Michael is my oldest son and by naming the character Michael I was able to incorporate both my boys into the film. I love having hidden meanings in the films I create. I also love hearing people laugh when they watch my comedy films. Read more>>
Bryan Sisk
The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on is something I never planned — it came from a place of loss and turned into something that gave me purpose again. A few years ago, I lost my older brother to suicide. It was the most painful experience of my life. Around the same time, the restaurant I had worked at for over two decades — my second home — closed its doors. I suddenly found myself without the two things that had grounded me: my work and my brother. Read more>>
Hillary Capps
I’m not sure if this is the most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on (I’m grateful to have had many!), but it’s definitely the most meaningful one in this current phase of my life: my latest project, “She” – a new single and a live video created for the 2025 Tiny Desk Contest. Read more>>
Steve Owens
The most meaningful project l have worked on is Fascination Street Podcast. I believe that everyone has a story, and l love getting to hear them.
Most people don’t think their story is fascinating because to them, it’s their hum drum life. Read more>>
Ruby Roberson Hall
The most meaningful project I have worked on, is bringing awareness to my sister, Elisa Roberson’s, case. This, by far, has been the most challenging and the most rewarding at the same time. There are so many ups and downs and some days are hard. I know that for the many doors that are shut in our faces, one door opens. There is immense power in using your voice to bring awareness to a loved one’s case. No one is going to fight harder than the family. If there is going to be any change or resolution to a cold case, it has to be the family who does it. Read more>>
Sepehr Davallou
I recently presented and curated an Artsong recital alongside my fantastic soprano duo, Alexandra Henderson, at the Zimmerli Art Museum in New Jersey at the invitation of the Federation of the Artsong. The recital titled “Folklore” was the second iteration of this program that we had envisioned and worked on for many months and it sought to bridge the gap between folk music and the standard repertoire of Artsong usually heard in recitals. It explored Spanish, Greek, French, American, and Persian musical settings of folk music by Ravel, De Falla, Copland, and Reza Vali. Read more>>
Moon Leone
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my concept album that I’m currently working on. It’s been a deeply personal and transformative journey that has spanned over three years. The album tells a story through music, visuals, and characters, and at its heart, there are four fairy characters—Poison, Sorrow, War, and Noose. These characters embody different emotional states and phases of my life, representing the struggles and healing I’ve gone through. Each fairy symbolizes parts of my journey. Read more>>
Jay Hazen
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on recently is an audio drama I created called Happy Medium: The Adventures of Melancholy Helen Polly. It’s a paranormal mystery with a comedic edge, and it features some wonderfully neurodivergent weirdness (the good kind). I wrote, directed, and voiced characters for the series, working with a stellar team of voice actors to bring it all to life—often from our respective blanket forts, makeshift studios, and sound booths made out of questionable closet setups. Read more>>
Ethan Feldbau
I had the pleasure of being the lead VFX artist and visual effects designer for a little film called Everything Everywhere all at Once. For all that little movie has done, it wound up becoming a career changer for me. I had previously worked in post-production, but spent my first decade in Los Angeles working as a production designer – head of art department. I had designed music videos and commercials for a large group of up-and-coming directors, including the Daniels. Because of my Post-Background, I was also VFX Supervising, and providing VFX services; often on the same jobs I was designing. Read more>>
Nancy Hayden
My most meaningful project is the work I do now. I’m the Executive Director of a youth arts education nonprofit and I truly feel as though working with this organization is the joyful culmination of all I’ve learned and achieved throughout my career. The Detroit Creativity Project sends teaching artists into Detroit schools to teach improvisation. Improv is a skill that changed my life as an actor, writer and human being. And the training The DCP provides makes those same deep changes in the lives of the students. They learn self confidence, the courage to voice their opinions, to make mistakes, to work as a team and to creatively solve problems. Read more>>
Christina Thomas
This might sound corny, but every thing I paint is very meaningful, because there is emotion behind all my artwork. There are two projects that have stood out the past year. One is working with the Buckhead Library and having multiple exhibitions lasting months for the public to see. The second is creating a painting for the incredible musician LaRussell. Read more>>
Tahirah Rasheed
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve created was during my first artist residency at Pilchuck Glass School—a pivotal moment in my journey, not because it was the first time I bent glass, but because it was the first time I stood fully in my power as an artist in a space that dared to hold all of me. In that forested, fire-lit environment, I created Edge of Survival, a neon installation inspired by the writings of Audre Lorde—particularly her unwavering declaration that survival for Black women is not an abstract idea. It is lived. It is deliberate. It is political. And it is deeply personal. Read more>>
Ty Thompson
The very first event I ever produced was a Barbershop Link-Up hosted at the exact shop I grew up in, right in the heart of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. As a barbershop kid, I spent countless hours surrounded by my grandparents, the rhythm of adult conversations, and the warmth of community. That space always felt like a safe haven to me, and I wanted to pay homage to that experience by turning it into something intentional for others. Read more>>
Cynthia Fearing
The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on is the gourd urn I created for my mother. When her health began to decline, she came to live with me. I thought I might only have one year left with her, and I made it my mission to fill that time with joy, purpose, and connection. We attended art shows, exhibits, and I encouraged her involvement at our local Senior Center. At one of those art shows, she met a gourd artist, which immediately sparked her interest—it reminded her of the gourds she and her family used as dippers for well water on their farm in Virginia. Read more>>
Aurora SaRose
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on so far has been my EP ‘Roses Have Thorns’ specifically my song ‘Jaded’ it is one of my more lyrical and thought out tracks and the creation process brought me a-lot of joy, I feel that ‘Jaded’ has a-lot of relatable lyrics which allows my music to connect with listeners Read more>>
AJ Nutter
Working on Self-Identities has been one of the most impactful and humbling experiences of my creative career. As the co-producer of this educational podcast, recorded inside the walls of SCI Muncy, a maximum-security correctional facility for women in Pennsylvania. I’ve had the rare opportunity to help amplify the voices of individuals who are so often silenced or misunderstood. Read more>>
Anna
The most meaningful project that I have worked on is the one that I am currently building, ‘Pandarayuhan: Home is a Memory.’ Pandarayuhan explores cultural identity and loss within the context of immigration; reflecting on the generational influences of the Filipino Immigrant experience enveloped by the themes of home, assimilation, marginalization, and displacement. The exhibition unfolds in two parts, skillfully weaving together nostalgic reflections of home with my narrative of self-discovery within the framework of the American Dream. Read more>>
Diane Gatterdam
The most meaningful project I have done is my project called “21 Faces”
MY ARTISTIC CALLING WAS TO START CONVERSATIONS WITH THIS PROJECT AND INSPIRE PEOPLE TO ASK ‘WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?’ WHILE PAINTING, I DIDNT FOCUS ON THE CANVAS I FOCUS ON THE CAUSE.
AFTER UVALDE, I WAS COMPELLED TO CALL ATTENTION TO THE HEART WRENCHING REALITY THAT OUR CHILDREN SHOULDER A CONSTANT BURDEN OF FEAR. MOST OF THESE FACES WERE CREATED IN 2023, Read more>>