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.
Fer Caggiano
After being criticized for painting nudes (the most traditional subject in art) I realized people would not have told me what I should or should not be painting was I a man. I was living in SC at the time and I decided to showcase inspiring women in the region so young girls would have a role model to look up to. Read more>>
Merc B. Williams
I’ve worked on several dope projects but to this day I’d have to say being featured on Comedy Central on Kevin Hart’s “Hart Of The City” has to rank up at the top so far. Up until that point I had only been doing comedy maybe 3 or 4 years and while I always felt like I was funny I didn’t feel like I had found my comedic voice just yet. I remember the initial blast going out for the auditions in Mississippi and I wasn’t tagged and it made me feel some kinda way a little. Read more>>
Ivy Sunflower
As an actress, a storyteller, an artist, I purposely seek out projects that gear towards a commonality that I personally am passionate about. This past year, I was honored to be casted in my first equity show, “School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play” by Jocelyn Bioh, performed at American Stage Theatre Company. “School Girls” follows a group of girls who attend a boarding school in Ghana, Africa and plan to all compete in the Miss Ghana Pageant until their world is “interrupted” by an American new student who isn’t like everyone else. Read more>>
Sharee Silerio
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far has been my short documentary, titled “Black Girl, Bleu”. This film was born from my personal challenges with mental health, as I’ve lived with some measure of anxiety or depression since I was a child and have experienced grief throughout my life. Read more>>
Kira Clayton
My most meaningful project is definitely my ongoing webcomic, Crowned Vessel. I’ve wanted to make it since I was a teenager, and it’s an amazing feeling to finally bring the story and characters out of my head into visible form. It’s my ultimate passion project. Read more>>
Cherise Hurt
My daughter was diagnosed as autistic at 5 years old in January 2022. Afterwards, I began looking for books to represent her. My search revealed that there are not many options for autistic children, especially girls. I wanted to find a picture book with a neurodivergent protagonist that she could relate to. Thus, The Princess Who Can’t Sit Still was born. I believe the autistic community needs books like this one to help children feel included, important, and valued. Read more>>
Rob Surette
I am one of a small handful of Top-Tier Master Fine Artists for Disney. What that means is that I paint for their Fine Art Galleries, worldwide.
But after I give them my 40 or so hours each week, I am allowed to accept any other creative projects I’d like. In my “free time” I have set 7 World Records with my artistry, Read more>>
Vikki Lenola
I am the Producer/ Director for The Vegan Fashion Show, a charitable and educational non-profit event and organization. Our mission is to celebrate and elevate vegan fashion through facts, fundraising, and fun events! Guests can enjoy a fun fashion show while contributing to meaningful, long-lasting help for animals in Canada. Proceeds benefit Animal Justice, the organization leading the legal fight for animal protection in Canada. Read more>>
Key Flight Captains
Heartstrings- our latest single is our most recent project we finished that I would have to say it is the most meaningful. It’s a song about a failed relationship, which is something everyone goes through. Pulling of your heartstrings, it represents the toxic relationship messing around with your emotions and trying to get you to stay (manipulation basically) but in reality- you both know it’s not going to last. Read more>>
Cydnee Pedler
I was contacted buy I previous customer of mine that had purchased something from my Etsy Page. She asked if it was possible to send me a special bottle she had been keeping for some time. She asked if I was able to cut it as well as seal it for her, so she could use it as a vase in her family’s home. “Of course, I would be honored to!” I said. Read more>>
Anastasia Davidson
The most meaningful project I’ve ever done is always the one I’m currently working on. That might sound like I’m dodging the question, but it’s the truth. I enjoy finding meaning and purpose in every project I take on. Whether I’m acting in roles originally written and reserved for men, taking on social justice issues in educational plays, performing voiceover and motion capture for video games that address and embrace mental health awareness and acceptance, or simply making people laugh, I find my work as an actress incredibly meaningful. Read more>>
Ian Trask
Back in 2015, I got the idea to make a collaborative artist book. It grew out of a found photography project that I’d been working on since 2012. Through my on-going search for unusual materials, I started to acquire and use 35mm slide photographs. By overlaying multiple slides I found that I could create surreal and beguiling photo collages, which I would display in vintage slide viewers. People really responded to them, often going so far as to share the stories or memories triggered when viewing them. Read more>>
Sarah Boris
There are several projects that have marked a turning point in my journey. I like to bring a performative and participatory dimension into my artworks. For my first solo exhibition ‘Le Théâtre Graphique’ in Le Havre, France in 2015, I created a fictional studio in which I based myself for the duration of the exhibition. Each part of the workshop space presented different tools as well as references and artworks. Read more>>
Casey Rislov
My book projects become meaningful when I collaborate with other artists. It makes the project go the extra mile and when I collaborate, the audience will benefit too. Three picture books I have collaborated with other artists on in order of when it happened are Rowdy Randy. LOVE, and The Rowdy Randy Wild West Show. All have won many awards and I have been to many school visits. Read more>>
Amber Andersen
I am currently creating a body of work that discusses grief and the aftermath of loss. Between traumatic miscarriage, the loss of my 2 month old daughter, and my oldest child facing stage 4 cancer, I have personally experienced an extreme amount of grief and mourning in a short amount of time. My current body of works reflect not only the despair that I faced, but also the return to life in the aftermath of grief. Read more>>
Montria Walker
There have been so many meaningful projects I’ve had the privilege to work on. One recent project that has left a huge impact on me would be my first Off- Broadway Musical “Sistas.” Before this show I was doing many virtual auditions from the comfort of my home back in Maryland. With this show in particular I just submitted a virtual audition like the rest and kept going, but then I got a virtual callback. Then I got another callback in person in NY and then I was invited back to NY for Final callbacks. Read more>>
Ashley Schriefer
When I was in 8th grade I had lost the closest person to me – my sister Tara – to brain cancer. It shook me and changed the way I coped with life and loss. I was always fascinated with the human body it functions and malfunctions but now – I turned my interests into a message. During my MFA in 2016 I choose to do a series on the 5 stages of grief. Every image was paired with geloblastoma cells – the cancer that took my sisters life. Read more>>
SUSAN JUSTICE
As a writer, I’ve always envisioned creating a story that could empower young readers to advocate for their peers’ rights. Drawing from my own experiences as a young person and my journey in understanding privilege, I felt compelled to write a book that would entertain and inspire children to work towards making the world a better place for all. Read more>>
Megan Curet
The most meaningful project I have worked on has been my practice led PhD research. En Ritmo: Praxis in Decolonizing Traditional Dance Spaces offers a practice-based framework for decolonizing the body in culturally hegemonic dance spaces. This PhD research focuses on the cultural syncretism of bomba and North American contemporary dance. Read more>>
Janna Murphy
About 9 years ago I was looking out my front window watching a neighbor boy walk home from school. The wind was blowing and he was trying to cover his face. I thought to myself I can make him something that is thick and good for kids to keep warm and cover there face when they go play. I had two of our three kids at the time and figured it would be fun for them to have something also. So I invented a item I called a Cozy Cowl. It’s a double layer piece of fleece that has a large seam to keep the fabric to stand up. My neighbor loved it and so did our kids. Read more>>
Colleen Murphy
When considering the projects of which there have been many, over the years….Murals, sculptures, albums, educational endeavors, I find that the times when my arts have effected me as the most poingnant grew from my attempt to heal old deep wounds. After all I believe that is the base of much of the worlds great art.. Create, then to be vulnerable and put that art out in the world and let it sit naked before the world. I have a very dear friend who knew I was an artist before I did. Read more>>
Sharifa Lafon
Denver Digerati is one of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on to-date. Primarily, this stems from positive interactions with the artists in our network. I take pleasure in working with a global slate of creators who are responding to broad issues that vary in place, time, and lived experience. This allows me to curate from a wider selection of artwork that is representative of myriad viewpoints. Read more>>
Sofia Terpou
As a film producer, the very essence of your job is to create the space for other artists to share what is meaningful to them. And that’s what gives you meaning. Every project I’ve worked on is a stepping stone closer to understanding my craft, my strengths and weaknesses – it paves the way to where I want to be as a professional. However, if I had to talk about the most meaningful project to my heart, that would be my latest work, the short film “Intern” written and directed by the extremely talented Elena Viklova. Read more>>
Danelle Young
All the projects I’ve taken on are meaningful. I have to be selective right now because I’m a stay-at-home mom with two young boys. My most recent published collaboration is with author Chrissy Whitten. We’ve worked together on two books so far and she plans to release more. Helping her share her story has inspired me along the way. Her series Journals from a Warrior’s Mother is dear to my heart because while I worked on formatting her first book, I had a miscarriage. Read more>>
Monica Prince
The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on was my forthcoming choreopoem, Roadmap. When I started this choreopoem back in 2015, I was basically transcribing interviews from my ex-boyfriend about his life. But I stopped working on the choreopoem because we lost touch and I wanted to work on other projects. Read more>>
Mayanthi Jayawardena
As a Sri Lankan American 2nd generation immigrant, I have always felt that my roots were spread far and wide, never fully attaching to one place. I was born and raised in the US while my heart was always in Sri Lanka and yet, whenever I would go to Sri Lanka, I would never quite feel like I was accepted. This journey is one that many 2nd generation immigrants feel and the term is coined “third culture kid”. Read more>>
Lauren Amalia Redding
Well into my second trimester of pregnancy, I was asked by a gallery I’ve long admired (Method & Concept in Naples, Florida) to create the largest drawing I’ve ever made, clocking in at a towering 12 feet tall by 5 feet wide. I completed it a few weeks into my third trimester, with the help of a hoist system that my husband rigged me so that I could remain stationary, seated, and safe while working on the drawing. Read more>>
Louise Cutler
Wow, Lets see, I have worked on so many different projects that have meant a lot to me so narrowing it down was hard. I enjoy working with and enlightening people and youth in particular. With so much going on in the world today with race and cultural differences some years ago I started working on a series of mixed media collages called “We Are Still Watching”, Read more>>
Natasha MacKenzie
There are a number of projects that have been very meaningful to me over the years since I started my career in Book Design. I’ve got to design books for my favourite childhood superheroes, had my work featured in Entertainment Weekly and Spine Magazine, and have illustrated some covers for some truly amazing stories. So, it is hard to narrow it down to just one project in particular. But, if I had to choose one project that stands out overall, it would have to be the book covers for the Firefly novel series. Read more>>
Charissa Bates
When I was 33 years old with a 7, 5, and 2 year old at home I heard the worst words you could ever hear “You have cancer.” I started writing about my experiences for cancer organizations. I felt drawn to create a book about how we found joy during the hard times. We Find Joy Cancer Messed with the Wrong Family children’s book was born. Read more>>
Cami Galofre
One of my most meaningful projects is my recent installation, Macarenia, at Convergence Station – Denver’s Meow Wolf. This project is perhaps one of my biggest achievements in my artistic career and it’s the one that I am the most proud of. It’s significantly important to me because of how much I learned from this experiences. Not only did it require a lot of planning and preparation, but making it a reality completely pushed me outside my comfort zone. It was a process that elevated my skills and creativity, and has allowed me to embrace bigger creative challenges. Read more>>
Melissa Lakey
I recently had my first solo show at the Hey There Projects gallery in Joshua Tree. Having my own art show has been a dream for a long time and it was so exciting to finally have it come to life. I had about six months to prepare for the show, which was just enough time for me to procrastinate, freeze up, unfreeze, and then make a ton of art nonstop for a few months. Read more>>
Christena Shreve-Elza
I actually have a couple meaningful projects that had a big impact on my career and my enthusiasm for garden and container design. I was working at Pike’s in the greenhouse about 15 years ago, when I noticed a customer that looked like she needed help. I approached her and we began talking. She said Southern Living was coming to her house to do a photo shoot and she needed her front porch containers done. Read more>>
Sierra Upshaw
Above/Below means the most to me because it was created in love. Everything happened so organically. My sister Natalie was visiting while I was living in Baltimore at the time. The moment she walked in the living room and said “we should make an astrology calendar” I was instantly with it. We started brainstorming, created mood boards and just had fun with it. This was in 2020 when we had lots of time and pandemic coins on our hands. It felt so good to create freely and have the resources do it. Read more>>
SNVP3
My most meaningful project is Poetic Pain that is available on all music platforms. I feel that this is the project that I’ve been preparing for since I started recording music. As far as learning ways to use my emotions in my music, learning how to use my voice better, and knowing the business better. Read more>>
Adrianne Babbitt
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far is my first book, “The Miscarriage Project: Testimonials of Parents Who Found Hope in God.” I miscarried in 2016 and it changed my life. I’ve never felt such pain and anguish. I wanted to help others, going through that same pain, find hope in God. I wanted them to know they are not alone in their sorrow and grief. Read more>>
Clanci Jo Conover
A pivotal project in my career so far involved cataloging the entire portfolio of an artist who is now in her 90s. I was working at an art gallery full time and taking on side projects to expand my professional network when I was approached by a family from Long Island with the special task of documenting their mother’s career. Read more>>
Marian Mendez
Most projects I’ve worked on as an actor have a very special place in my heart. Since filmmaking and theatre are very collaborative mediums, I’ve had the pleasure of working on projects that were in development for over twelve years and are very meaningful for their creators (playwrights, screenwriters, filmmakers) so I feel very honored to be a part of someone else’s vision. Read more>>
Kaylin Heydenburg
I know it may sound cliché, as it’s possibly self aggrandizing to say this, but Von Kaiser is the most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on. I entered this project thinking that it would be fun and a way to use my musical talents doing something that I’d never done before, never realizing the impact that we would have on other REAL people. Read more>>
Kyle Lawless
I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of passion projects under my belt; ones that I was able to formulate, plan and execute with the vision I originally had. The most important one is upcoming this spring/summer. My grandparents have been living in the same home for almost 50 years. It is almost a larger than life location in and of itself. I spent so much time there as a kid and still find myself over there almost every other Sunday as an adult. Read more>>
Marjorie Kaye
Besides my personal art practice, forming the large collective artist-run Galatea Fine Art is the most meaningful project I have worked on. And I really feel that it is closely related to my personal practice, as being exposed to the work of hundreds of artists, creating an interchange of ideas and dialogues has been instrumental to my personal growth. Read more>>
Lina Mapes
I would say the most meaningful project I’ve ever put out is actually a tie for two of the projects. First of all, I released my initial debut song off guard right at the beginning of 2020 when the pandemic hit and I went through a personal tragedy. I lost my uncle to suicide at the beginning of 2020, and as the pandemic soon started to hit I realize that there was a lot of people losing people so unexpectedly. Read more>>
Alessio Summerfield
A chance encounter with a group of brothers who were developing a video game ended up growing beyond my wildest dreams and mutated into a film project that I will never forget. While scouting for possible game developers in the St. Louis area, word-of-mouth pointed my co-producers and I to Sam Coster and his brothers, Seth and Adam. Read more>>
Darcy Nelson
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on so far has been preparing for my first TEDx presentation this past fall. I was invited to apply to my local TEDxWomen event as a performer but wanted to bring more than just songs to the stage. I was accepted as a hybrid speaker/performer, and along the journey of preparing mix of storytelling and song sharing, several visceral moments of grief and pain surfaced as early reasons why I turned to songwriting as “medicine” to process life. Read more>>
Adam Perri
I get a lot out of personal projects where I can explore new ideas or subjects that I find interesting or am passionate about. I can be more free to experiment and make all the creative decisions. Personal projects, and I would include “work on spec” here, can create more business opportunities in the future as well. It’s a great creative outlet but can also be used for marketing down the road. Read more>>
Amanda Durig
I would say the most meaningful project I’ve worked on is the one I’m starting to develop in my studio practice right now. The last few bodies of work have led me to this path and self-exploration. I’m currently looking inward more, reflecting on my childhood experiences, family dynamics and making work through that lens. It has allowed me to open up the way I make work as well as my thought process. Read more>>
Benjamin Freemanle
For different reasons, different projects have been impactful in my life. And especially projects I direct come to reflect who I was as a person when I look back at them. For that reason, I am reluctant to pick any favorites. But there is a project that currently sticks in my mind as especially meaningful, even years after working on it. It’s not something I directed, but I was an associate producer on – The First Wave. Read more>>
Trevor Martin
The most meaningful project I have worked on so far is my debut EP, “Closer to You.” It is currently releasing and is a collection of 5 songs that tell an overarching story of falling in love, breaking up, dealing with that breakup, seeing your ex out again for the first time, and then realizing that after everything, you are just one step closer to the person you will spend forever with. I wrote all of this from a very real place, and I am so excited to share this story with my listeners! Read more>>
Risiko
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my webcomic, Arcade Alex. It’s a romantic/erotic comic that started as a single chapter about two gay men, one cis and one trans, who meet at an arcade and fall in love. I grew attached to the characters and have developed it into a whole story that is still in progress. Read more>>
Willeen Capehart
The most meaningful project I have worked on to date was a capsule that I released titled, “The Dad Collection.” This capsule was meaningful to me because it honored my father who passed away in May old 2021–just two days before my birthday. This collection employed timeless vintage pieces harmonized with modern streetwear. Each piece I designed was tied to a specific memory of my father. Read more>>
Rebecca Hass
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on was recording my first album in 2018. It was a long journey toward building confidence in myself as a composer, but once I started sharing my work more often, online and with fellow composers, it became easier and easier. In 2017, I participated in the 100 Day Project, a global art project where you share your work online throughout the challenge, and wrote 8 measures of music per day, which grew into many of the compositions on my album Florescer. Read more>>
Fritz Zoul
The most meaningful project to me is the one I’m working on right now. This project is about my growing into a new version of my self after my vices had a hold on me. This project will have my entire heart in it. From my sadness to my happiness even to when I have felt lost. This project will be dropping in Sept on all music platforms. Read more>>
Perry Chandler
In 2019 I suffered a traumatic brain injury and later created a series of paintings that explored the effects of trauma to the brain and the effect of brain fog to the emotional processes of the brain. This series of painting was called “This Will Pass, Like The Weather” and was exhibited at the Glass Gallery in Portland Oregon as a part of the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Read more>>
Shanell Khan
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on was my first creative hair project. I always had a love for creativity and a passion for all things hair . I wanted to be able to combine both .However ,It took me a long time to realize that I can in such a way that I would enjoy and more importantly to be able to inspire others to love and embrace their natural hair . To be able to empower persons and show them how our hair can be worn in many different ways. Read more>>
Qianwen Yu
The current project I am working on right now might be the most meaningful project I’ve worked on. The working title is ‘Loom and Music’. It explores the woven fabric as a music score; linking it through time, labor and sound to space. The music is created entirely by the structure of woven fabric. The structure includes different numbers of harnesses, tie-ups and orders to hit the treadle. Read more>>
Justin Brown
I got to work on a Black History Month project for Disney. The best part wasn’t an actual set of deliverables, it was that I got to present to 100+ employees across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ via zoom. It was a huge opportunity to talk about my story and what Black History Month means to me. Read more>>
Camden
I think my upcoming EP, “Erosion”, is the most meaningful project I’ve worked on to this point. I wrote the 5 song compilation during 2020, when there was a lot of political turmoil, and lots of families were finding themselves on opposite ends of the political spectrum. I produced the project with my friend Luke Saison, who helped me push my limits sonically and lyrically. He’s so good at creating music with no rules or expectations for what the project has to turn out like. Read more>>
Sarah Toumani
The most meaningful project I think was working for Sony Music Entertainment in collaboration with the Michael Jackson Estate for the 40th anniversary of the Thriller Album! I got picked to dance for a “client”, and I had to sign disclosure contracts agreeing that I wouldn’t say a word nor take any pictures and videos from the process I was about to jump on. Read more>>
Brionne Dunham
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far is actually the one of my most recent projects called “What is a Box?” with creative director and model Klarke Foreman. I met Klarke through one of my good friends/her brother. I photographed her family for their annual family portraits and I remember photographing her thinking “wow, this girl is a MODEL.” I could tell she knew how to serve face just by how she was looking into the camera and giving me very strong eyes. And these were just the family photos LOL! Read more>>
Tippy Tippens
When the BP Oil Spill happened in 2010, as a longtime environmentalist, I couldn’t let it go – I felt compelled to find a way that I, as a designer could do something to help with this massive environmental/wildlife disaster. I developed BirdProject Soap: a stylized black bird-shaped soap that contains a smaller white ceramic bird at it’s center – as you wash your hands you reveal the bird inside – symbolic of going oiled to clean, which donates 10% (for the first few years, 50%) to oil spill cleanup & wildlife recovery. Read more>>
Vernard Hines
The most Meaningful Projects I have done is being a Laugh Therapist for my my military Veterans. I have been able to bring laughter to myself as well as other Veterans being a Veteran myself with combat tours to Iraq. I was asked to be a Laugh Therapist at Safe Harbor Recovery Center in Portsmouth VA. It’s a 45-day residential treatment program for Veterans. Read more>>
Lee & Dylan (The Sogs)
Over the last year or so we’ve been working on and recording songs for our first full length album. In the summer of 2022 a dear friend of ours, Jon West, who played drums in our previous band reached out and gave us the devastating news that he was battling cancer, and that the prognosis wasn’t good. When we told him we were in the process of recording some new material he offered to lay down the drum tracks on 5 of the songs we’ll be releasing on our upcoming album. Read more>>
Jamie Simon Sr
It’s important to stay focus on your work, goals and achievements. If you enjoy what you do, you will be more successful at the quality of work you produce. As the business grows, don’t get overwhelmed. Create a strategy that will allow you to hone your skills. Also it allows you to consistently produce quality over quantity. Read more>>
Jordan Bergeron
Infinite Greens prides ourselves on delivering a high quality product. As we continue to evolve as a business we focus on our internal wellness as well as the customers needs. Representing a lifestyle brand, our attention to detail teaches us how to maintain our standards with growth. With everything in life, we change but Infinite Greens will continue to evaluate the way we think, how we grow and what we delivery to make sure we continue to provide an elevated service. Read more>>
Jessica Villalobos
I have hosted over 300 picnics- since the start of my business. Out of all of them, I believe that the very 1st one that I hosted was the most meaningful. It was amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, September of 2020- I had just created my Instagram, and only had a few pictures posted. I was contacted by a family friend who wanted to book a picnic not for herself but as a gift for a couple she knew! Read more>>
Kamaria Webster
That is definitely a hard one; because, all of my projects come from wherever I am or have been in my life. However, I feel my most meaningful project would have to be my most recent, which was sold last year at The Chocolate and Art Show in Dallas. It was titled, “REBORN.” The title explains the part of my life where I finally let go of situations that no longer fit where I am headed. Months prior to creating this project, my family and I travelled back home to Portland, OR to lay my cousin to rest. Read more>>