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.

Michael Medrano

I’ve been working on my debut project ‘LoveSexDrugs’ for the past 3 years and it’s finally dropping April 7th. I started this project during lockdowns and since then steadily released singles leading to the final release; it’s changed my life to say the least. Through social media, mainly tiktok and twitter, I went from quite literally 0 to 100 — 130K monthly listeners and counting to be exact. I never thought I’d be able to do this all alone and while I’m still on the hunt for a team/label, I’m extremely grateful to be where I am right now. Read more>>

Vince Ashton

My most recent project is definitely the most meaningful thus far because it was a testament of overcoming fear. I have released the singles at one time that I’ve had circled the SoundCloud space for sometime. And despite being an artist for years, been able to tour, create a name, received a multitude of streams and so much more… I was nervous to release my art on streaming platforms. Read more>>

Prodigi

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is something that is unreleased actually and I’m planning on releasing it very soon. All of my music is meaningful to me because it all comes from the heart & I don’t hold anything back in my lyrics. To give some insight into my next project, it focuses around some new sounds I’ve been working on, touches on new experiences & events that have taken place throughout my journey as an upcoming artist, & overall gives an inside look into the untold story of the artist on the rise, Prodigi. It’s a story of my past, present reality, and future all in one project but focuses on another side of me that people haven’t been introduced to just yet. Read more>>

Dwight Hiscano

There are several. I’ve done a lot of work with water – waves, reflections, details, etc. I have a collection of night shots of LED lights reflected on the surface of the Delaware River that I did about 12-13 years ago. The images are different, something I hadn’t seen before. But they’re dark. It was a dark and depressing time in my life. My wife and I suffered the loss of several family members within a couple of years and I took it pretty badly. Read more>>

Jack Oberkirscg

At this point in my creative career, the most meaningful project that I’ve had the opportunity to work on has been writing the score for the full-length feature film, “A Song For Imogene” by Honey Head Films out of Wilmington, NC. This film was so incredible to work on because I was brought onto the project a full year before filming even took place. This allowed me to become enveloped in the film and its themes which was a massive help in finding the right musical direction for the film and creating a sound world around it. Read more>>

Steve Wiegenstein

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my series of novels set in the Ozarks. As a native of the Ozarks, I am painfully aware of the stereotyping and lack of information that most people have about the region, and my novels seek to introduce more complexity in people’s understanding of the place. At the same time, they have to be engaging stories that aren’t didactic, and they have to reveal larger issues with human nature than simply being “regional novels.” So it’s a big task, but I have found every minute of the work rewarding. Read more>>

King Cassius

The late great Malcolm X once said “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” I agree with this statement that was made in the 60s, and it is still sadly relevant today. Therefore, myself along with the dope singer “Kyla Imani” released a song and video in 2o22 entitled “Black Swan.” Read more>>

John Pagnam

The most meaningful projects I work on are the ones that fall within my own personal passions and interests. Making a living as a commercial artist you learn there’s sometimes a difference between the art you love and the art that makes you money. If you can bring those two things together then you’ve really got something. Read more>>

Monnie Browner

My most meaningful project was a bookend I created with the roses from my cousin’s passing 2 years ago. For two years, I let the flowers from his funeral sit before I could even attempt to touch them. I took those flowers and put my ultimate creativity to the test. Out of my pain, I used my cousin’s flowers to create a beautiful bookend. Read more>>

Tiffany Storrs

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on thus far in my life is writing my first book about my hearing loss journey and how I transformed my pain into my purpose. The title of my book is called Adaptability, and it will be available this summer! My book uncovers how I lost my hearing suddenly after the birth of my first child. I had spent four years trying to conceive, and just months after my first was born, I learned that I was going deaf. Read more>>

Correna Jane

Born in the pandemic Nu funk/Neo-soul band Unessential Jane have legendary goals and intentions. Correna Jane (vocals) Kim Painter (bass) JByrd(drums) Vee (keys) Rex (guitar) and Sarah Barnts (manager, trumpet) are all undoubtedly leaders, organizers, friends, and creatives. When UEJ isn’t funking around you will find members meeting with local activist Springfield tenants unite(STUN)- group fighting for tenant rights in a landlord town. Read more>>

Naomi RaMona Schliesman

Naomi Ramona Schliesman seeks to create objects and installations that create a collision of scale and materiality with ideas that are not fixed in our interpretation of them. She uses materials associated with sculpture; like wood, fiber, plaster, plastic, rubber and metal. With these materials she juxtaposes the visual weight of these resources while utilizing the architectural grid while she makes these objects and installs them. This is done with the intention of extending an understanding of interior versus exterior, hard versus soft, and domestic versus institutional. Read more>>

Nick Ferrington

Area 406 Music & Arts Festival in Kalispell has been my most meaningful project to date. As Covid restrictions opened up in spring 2012, I decided to throw a small festival in Kalispell. After telling my business partners in Los Angeles who owns a production company about the project, they jumped on board immediately and insisted that we make this one of the biggest shows to ever hit the Flathead Valley. Read more>>

Joshua Lofton

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on, has to be my first album “Humble Beginnings”, on all major platforms. Initially, I didn’t want to make a project! I thought I’d build my catalog with releasing a plethora of singles. However, I was having a really rough year, with school, work, relationships, and the direction I was headed in. Read more>>

Apryle Dalmacio

My most meaningful project(s) have been releasing my original music. All my songs tell a story of my life and have expressed hard times, experiences of love, loss, and feelings of being human. I’ve written songs about being in love for the first time, being cheated on, regret of life decisions, and depression. Read more>>

Abraham Lopez

The most meaningful project that I’ve worked on is my film The Betrayal. It is meaningful to me because the story was inspired by true events so I put lots of thought and meaning into the whole story, especially the characters. Read more>>

Monica Matute

Growing up, I never saw characters like myself, or my family, on screen. My most recent short film, “Working From Home” is the the most meaningful project I’ve worked on yet because it’s the first project where I really 1000% honed in on a story that highlights my culture and people like me. My upbringing in the US as a Latina was interesting; my parents raised me with a lot of the same traditional morals their parents did, but there were many times we all, as a family, collectively adjusted to what was seen as more traditional here in the US. Read more>>

Melisa Beveridge

My life hasn’t taken the most linear path. I tend to swirl around and see what direction life points me in. For the most part, I trust that I am paying attention to what the universe is telling me and that I will go in the right direction. I had been thinking for a while (eight years to be exact) about traveling to animal sanctuaries and producing artwork based on the animals I met. In the spring of 2018, I started to think more seriously and began looking into resources to make it work. Read more>>

Terrill Waldmanv

I made an urn for some friends of a friend. They had lost a child and they wanted something that reflected that childs joy, and playful spirit. I made them and urn that looked like a bright yellow ball, a toy. It is intense to be part of someone’s process celebrating a life and bringing meaning and healing out of pain. It was amazing to be there with them in this very vulnerable painful place. To be there with them and be part of that loss and healing. Read more>>

Golden Blue

Our upcoming debut album is the project that means the most to us so far in our careers. We have known each other for 15 years and met playing music in a high school band. We’ve spent the last decade helping others with their music projects, dreaming of the time we’d be able to take the reins and find our own identity in music. Read more>>

Sir Dominique Jordan

I don’t have one sole project that is the most meaningful, but more recently, I’ve been able to garner and work alongside a pretty stealthy committee of Social Justice warriors as we build the City of Lancaster, PA’s first ever City Poet Laureate position. A fellow poet, teammate and basically family member named Thunda Khatt came to me with the concept originally. I’ve had the privilege to champion poetry in a lot of unique spaces in my hometown related to education, civic engagement, non profit spaces, etc, but I wasn’t too familiar with the specifics details. Read more>>

Ms. Sandie

I think the most meaningful project I have done to date are my Youth Takeover Holiday Bazaar. This event was near and dear to my heart because I was blessed to be able to connect with every high school in the school district which had taken me over 3 years to accomplish. In doing so, I had the pleasure of going to each school sharing the knowledge, skill and understanding of what it takes to plan an event. The students were thrilled and they made a huge impact at the event and it truly was a successful event. Read more>>

Kendra Farstad

For me, art is a language that transcends linguistic boundaries. Not only is it beautiful, but it is a powerful tool that can remind us of our shared humanity and the beauty that can be found in daily life, if we are willing to pause and notice it. I view my skills as an artist as a way to help lift others. To remind them that they are a part of something bigger. It’s very difficult for me to choose my *most* meaningful project, because I try to bring meaning to each of them. Read more>>

John Ramaine

Starting out as an actor, you’re hopeful that any job that comes your way is meaningful. You hope people see it and becomes relevant. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. You realize that the people for whom you work are also struggling, wishing to make something out of a project you just happen to be involved in. It takes a while to meet the right people, to get interested in the right project and get energy behind it. I’ve come to the point of only doing projects that benefit me and my worldview. Read more>>

Stereo Ontario

The most meaningful project for the band has been playing live. We are a live band. Stereo Ontario has 4 studio albums out as of right now but the studio albums are like a photo graph of what the live shows are. It takes a lot on the band putting on the live shows from booking, travel expenses, and just driving to the venue. On a good night though the bands chemistry clicks and the band is soaring to new destinations that we never even knew that songs could go. At the end of a show, connecting with the audience after you helped them dance and rock out is one of the most rewarding experiences anyone can have. Read more>>

Betsy Lee

I’ve been fortunate in my life to work on many meaningful projects: ones that I’m passionate about and better people’s lives. I founded and led a non-profit for 22 years. Our mission was to help people use the resources of their faith to deal with life’s problems. I enjoyed leading a non-profit, but I missed doing creative work on my own. I’m retired now and I’m free to do whatever I’d like. I’ve discovered that blogging is the perfect fit for where I am in life right now. I can use writing and photography to touch people’s lives through what matters most to me. Read more>>

Nikeah Howard

The most meaningful project that I’ve worked on thus far was actually one that took place over a week ago. A friend of mine, stage name “Solfull Poetry”, invited me to be a part of his visual project called, “For She Is Poetry”. This project focused on celebrating the uniqueness, beauty, resilience, and depth of Black Women, and he wanted to interview me and several others for it on camera. Read more>>

Brayden DeMorest-Purdy

I have had the opportunity to work on a lot of films that are meaningful to me. But one that comes to mind is my film Compulsion. Which is about someone who lives with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I based some of it off my own experiences with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This film was recognized by the International OCD Foundation, and I was given the opportunity to speak on their panel about the film with them. Since then I have become an official advocate for the International OCD Foundation. Read more>>

Tanya Metaxa

For me as an artist and a photographer, the project that I am working on right now is the most meaningful yet! It’s called ‘Hey, Stranger’. It’s just in the early stages, but this is the baby that took me a long time to consieve, and I am absolutely determined to see it through, to grow and develop it into something that will not only touch other people’s lives, but will bring meaning and joy back into it. Read more>>

Supah Sayin

My upcoming project “Neo Lizard King” has been the most memorable, meaningful, and important piece of work I’ve made so far! The seven-song project will be my debut album with @BrokenRecordMusicClub (my label & creative design team) and it is the first album I’ve ever had professionally mixed & mastered. “Neo Lizard King” is a psychedelic experience in itself… Detailing the highs and lows of life with deeply introspective and provocatively raw subject matter. NLK was concepted in mid 2023, but truly put into fruition after I was signed to @BrokenRecordMusicClub. Neo Lizard King will be available on all major music platforms April 7th, 2023. Read more>>

Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski

Cold and Missing is the most meaningful project that I have ever worked on. Like a lot of people I have always had an interest in true crime and I wanted to create content about the subject. I also knew that I did not want to cause families impacted by true crime to have to relive their worst day. I wanted something to serve the families, and most importantly, the victims of true crime. That is how I landed on Cold and Missing. On the show we only cover cold cases and unresolved missing person cases. Read more>>

Max Geller

I spent this past November conceiving, designing, and executing a mural at a biological reserve in Colombia called Reserva El Jaguar del Carrizal. I first arrived there in October, eager to learn and help serve their mission of reforestation in any way I could. The caretakers of the place, a warm couple and their ebullient, full-of-life 3-year-old son, gave me ample opportunity to do so. Read more>>