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.
Loli DiSanto
I have been so fortunate to have worked on a variety of special projects. A couple commissions that stand out as being most meaningful to my clients, and also to myself, are a Russian Doll egg that I created and a floral egg. The Russian Doll paid homage to familial roots, and the pattern carried throughout reflected work and other passions. Read more>>
Giovanni Thompson
The most meaningful project I have ever worked on recently has been “The Butterfly Effect Collection” with my creative partner-in-crime and seamstress, Fatima Edmondson of “FITTED. by Fat” (@fittedbyfat), who makes custom tote bags. We decided to do a tote collection together because of the meanings behind our brands/aesthetics. Both FITTED. by Fat and Incognito have an underlying meaning of transformation and walking into the next version of yourself, so having our worlds collide was not only long overdue, but also made sense creatively. Read more>>
Patrick Porter
This past year I’ve been insanely lucky to have worked with so many amazing and talented folks in a variety of mediums as my band A Very Special Episode created our upcoming full length record, “Freak Me Out.” The writing and recording process with my bandmates Kasey Heisler and Chayse Schutter was exhilarating as we gave ourselves some harsh and unforgiving deadlines booking studio time before having fully written all the tracks we intended to record. Read more>>
Stephanie Humphries
The most meaningful project I worked on was my first fashion show. I did not know what to expect and it was very intimidating in the beginning since I was new to the fashion industry. I wasn’t sure what designs I wanted create. After looking through my journal of business ideas I came across a chakra photoshoot I wanted to do and that was it. I was going to base my design off the seven chakras. Read more>>
Hank and Traci Bowman
I (Traci) retired from the US Air Force in 2020; when we started the business we were surrounded by other military people and we created a lot of promotion and retirement gifts. My husband (Hank) taught himself how to make pieces others wanted. We have created American Flags, coin holders (military members collect coins from places they have been and often display all, or their most meaningful coins. Read more>>
Bodine Victoria
I’d have to take it back to 2008, toward the start of my career. I had just released the song “Intoxicated (O2 Junkanoo Refix)”. Later that year, I secured an ambassadorship with BTC, our telecommunications company with a partnership with Tempo Television. I had a budget that I used to shoot my first international quality music video with a Bahamian crew. That crew had shot with all of the International tv stations. Read more>>
Andrew Brumagen
In a whole, starting a band is a huge project. You have to find the right people who can work alongside each other and are extremely motivated, passionate, and have a creative mindset. When we first started out, we did not have a place to get together and practice or write music. It went from renting out a friend’s garage and could only get about 8 hours a month of practice to renting out our own studio space at Crybaby Studios, There are a lot of speed bumps when starting out, but as long as you have chosen the right team, it can be the most meaningful thing to be part of. Read more>>
Melissa Hood
When Covid 19 shut down just about everything, I was also struggling to re-find my artistic voice. I had been in a lull for a long time. I was painting but I wasn’t excited about what I was doing. I blamed my kids. I thought that since I had little kids at home, it wasn’t my time to be creative or successful. It was time to be a mom. The day after my job closed down, I went out for my daily run and as I was running I realized I was crying. Like ugly crying. Read more>>
Jaughn Meshack
The Designer Artillery series has no doubt grown into one of the best musical masterpieces OF ALL TIME. 3 albums completed, the Trilogy has almost been completely visualized with our very own created players & gameplay. This is non-biasedly my favorite body of work because of the versatility, unique visuals, demonstration of lyricism, originality, and just how organically it came about. Read more>>
Steph Pickard
My most meaningful project is the one I’ve been working on within my business for the past couple of years. Starting in 2020 when Covid hit, the wedding industry really took a turn. A lot of it was obviously due to lockdowns, but that was the year almost 75% of my weddings went from full-size weddings to smaller, more intimate gatherings – and that’s where my passion for my current project started. Read more>>
Joel Valdes
Over the last year, I have been working with a talented group of people on a short film titled “Lips Like Fire”. The movie is a psychological thriller about a young man whose obsession with an ASMR artist starts having increasingly detrimental effects on his life. His obsession with ASMR is used in the movie as a conduit to explore the relationship between porn addiction, masculinity, and mental health. Read more>>
Jordan Faust
On September 2nd, 2022 my latest album “Forgotten No More” hit #10 for Pop Albums & #76 overall for All Albums on the iTunes Charts. The album was a long-time coming, based around my entire life and how I came up with my stage name “Forgotten One”. It was truly the most meaningful & personal project I’ve ever done in my life. So I’m very proud of the record and seeing the album top the charts was a dream come true. Read more>>
Rachel Lynn
My 2020 EP “Warmer” is still one of my most meaningful projects to date. I felt like I was getting closer to my authentic self and sound, hence the title, “Warmer,” and those songs are still some of my favorites to sing on stage. I released the project during such an uncertain time, when artists everywhere (myself included) were having full blown identity crises, trying to figure out the next step on the already unpredictable path of artistry — one that seemed to be deteriorating altogether with the loss of live music and other community outlets of expression. Read more>>
Marie Claire Macadar
My most meaningful project was my last puppet show, “Extra Lucky” It felt like one of the truest representations of myself- in a professional sense, and in a personal sense. I improvised the song in the show while recording it, and the stories were all true moments of great luck from my life. When I performed the show to a sold-out premiere audience, I felt the audience deeply connect with my visuals, music, and story, and therefore connect with me. It was so moving to hear people relating to my moments and enjoying my art and music! Read more>>
Caroline Belanger
To be an artist and make a living is quite a challenge. Option A: get an MFA, take advantage of all the exhibition opportunities available to you, secure gallery representation, score a solo show, create and hope for the best! For some, a long career unfolds itself, securing you collectors and patrons that will provide you creative and financial support. Read more>>
Occam’s Rose
Occam’s Rose recently released the “What Your Demons Said” EP which features three different songs with varying instrumentation and styles. One song in particular, “An Evening In Spring” was written to honor Anastasia’s late friend, Greg, who took his life in May of 2018. The song has a unique structure and the instrumentation builds through the end of the song ending on an isolated vocal note to emulate the intensity of the topic as well as the emotional catharsis that came with this homage. Read more>>
Nadya Lambreva
Art and meaning are very much connected and important to each other. We make sense of our human experience through art and our experience is all about the search for meaning. Therefore, engaging my art practice with meaningful causes has been very important because it brings purpose and soul to it. A recent moment when I felt like my art carried a bigger meaning and message to the world, was during an event created to raise funds for kids in less privileged areas who need life-saving surgical care and support. Read more>>
Sya Warfield
Upward Together is a public art project offering creative resources to build leadership skills in youth. I founded this project in 2016, by teaching youth photography as a tool to create murals. Currently, I’m expanding our reach by creating a team of Los Angeles based teaching artists ranging from sculpture to creative writing and photography to painting murals. Read more>>
Carla D. Brown
I remember a job I had once. I would come home every evening and plop down on the foot of my bed; many times falling asleep immediately from exhaustion but ALL the time dreading doing it all over again in the morning. I was in the field “everyone” told me I should pursue and on a career path I convinced myself would be worth it – eventually. Read more>>
Leland Montgomery
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is a recent short that I made called Hotter Up Close. We just finished our festival run with a final screening at Outfest Fusion. There are many different reasons why this particular piece of work is so important to me. Read more>>
Lillian Young
Because my art work centers around black history, specifically those moments or people who have traditionally left out of the main narrative, it is difficult for me to say, which of my projects are the most meaningful, or have the most meeting. I. Personally, I feel that my project, the Black Elder archive, is one of the most meaningful series that I have made to date. NHI interviewed 10 black elders, and ask them questions about their life living and growing up through a segregated America. I then took those audios and spice them together, in order to create a conversation between all 10 elders. Read more>>
Jessica Figueroa Ruiz
As a small business owner, I get the chance to create a one of a kind custom gift that not only has meaning but it holds value to my customers! A unique gift that they are a part of making and it holds a story that they get to tell through my work. Read more>>
Joseph Prichard
I’m the Creative Director and a founding partner at Kilter, a branding & design studio focused on amplifying and elevating the work of nonprofits and socially responsible businesses. One of the joys of working with cause-based clients is seeing the tangible impact of our work on the communities in which we live. That can mean anything from helping to elect progressive candidates like Katie Porter to congress, to promoting lifestyle shifts in healthy eating by partnering with plant-based food entrepreneurs. Read more>>
Christine Holton
Since the year 2021, I have been interested in painting human anatomy and learning about the physical functions and aesthetic forms within our bodies. I began really studying our inner workings and selected individual parts to emphasize in portrait-style paintings using bright and contrasting colors, naming the series Corpus Chromatic, which means literally “the main body” and “relating to color”. Read more>>
Mia Rio
During the 2020 pandemic, I saw an ocean of people turning to depression when faced with losses, suffering, and the lack of human interaction due to the lockdowns that we all went through. I also wondered how all the individuals who suffered through domestic abuse were doing during that time, the people who struggle with suicidal thoughts, and everyone who didn’t have a way to escape their tough reality during that time. Read more>>
Sarah Roberts
I have two most meaningful projects: 1) my first flower species poster “Cacti of the Southwest” and 2) every commission I’ve done. The first project, “Cacti of the Southwest” grew out of my first thoughts on what kind of business I should start. At the time I was a new postdoctoral scientist in a two year position and my husband and I had decided that after we finished our postdocs and settled down somewhere was the perfect time for me to launch the small business I’d been dreaming of for years. Read more>>
Melissa Mercilliott
Right now I’m working on creating a desert themed tarot deck. I Have been reading and collecting decks from other artists/authors for a long time, but I couldn’t find a deck that I felt represented the desert as I know it. Each deck has 78 cards, and there is a lot of historical tradition behind the symbolism of the cards. Read more>>
Hailey Dukart
Recently I wrapped up my largest project to date, a mural commissions within a private residence. It was an absolute honor to have full creative reign on a 104 sqft living room spanning across 3 walls and the main focal point of the living room. My client approached me after following me on Instagram and finding me at the Desert Air Market where she proposed the idea of wanting a mural of my art in her home. Read more>>
Jenna Loeva
Being a creative comes with the opportunity to give back to the community in ways that big corporate giants just cannot. Giving your artistry to another individual running a business of their own, or working on a passion project of their own – can fill you with joy and re-spark passions unlike anything else; all while helping another individual do the same. Read more>>
Coka Treviño
It all started with 28 studios… In early 2003, three artists, Jana Swec, Joseph Phillips, and Shea Little, stumbled upon an idea; They hoped to make an event that would help support and grow their art-making practices while sharing the love with other artists living and working around us in east Austin. They met with as many artists as they could to share the plan, and launched the first East Austin Studio Tour that same year. Big Medium’s formation as a non-profit stemmed from the first East Austin Studio Tour, a one-day event, free and open to the public, with only 28 studios and 50 artists. Read more>>
Raquel Fornasaro
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on is my upcoming solo exhibition titled “Cerol” at the Beacon Gallery in Boston this June. Through a collection of paintings, sculptures, video, and installation, “Cerol” explores the externalities of our capitalist practices and their impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. The title – pronounced sid-oh – is a Brazilian term referring to a mixture of glue and powdered glass used by kite flyers to cut their opponents’ kites. Read more>>
Rose Golden
My most meaningful project to date would have to be my show, The Golden Hour with Rose Golden. This is a talk show that honors the in-between. This show was created as a way to shine light on a journey all of us go on, and that is the journey of transformation. Read more>>
Taylor Roar
When I began writing stories about my wellness journey and sharing them online in 2020, all I knew was that I’d felt lost and misunderstood. And that I wasn’t alone. At my university, I’d witnessed a broken mental healthcare system that was struggling to keep up with the demands of young adults who did not know how to cope with big life changes, newfound responsibilities, and social and societal pressures. Read more>>
Dominykas Bytautas
Ugly Side Up is by far the project I am most proud of. What started as a solo project in my studio apartment in Austin, Texas blossomed into a band that has sold out venues and has been on a successful tour, something I’ve only ever dreamed of. Songwriting for me was always an outlet and this band provides that space for me to be creative. Read more>>
Diana Davis
When I learned about the appalling situation of corruption and organized pedophilia hiding under the guise of a twisted religion that was, and is, rampant in the USA, I made a movie about it. I had never made a film before and had no money…..but I knew that this was not something going on halfway around the world. This was going on in my own backyard on the border of AZ and UT. Read more>>
Nicaise Jones
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is when I created my children’s book “My Two Homes”. When I first got married, I instantly became an instant stepmom to a 3 yr old. One of our nightly routines was reading a book every night, but I soon realized there were not many books that looked like him and his story. Read more>>