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.

Heather Rice

Right now I am working on an original concert based entirely on Damian Stamer’s abstract art and specifically his series called “Ruminations” currently on display at the Gibbes Museum in Charleston, SC. I have been commissioned by Charleston Jazz to write songs inspired by this art and it’s been such a rewarding and meaningful process. Read more>>

Stephanie Dana George

As a photographer, I’ve had many opportunities to be a part of meaningful projects. But the first that pops in my mind is my “Dancer Series.” Once or twice a year, I take dancers to different areas and let them show me their art. I take individual and group photos. I’ve been a dancer as well since age 3, so seeing this beauty and passion form in front of my camera is inspiring. Read more>>

Zoë Tirado

I come from the most conservative of the five boroughs, Staten Island. Collaborating on Queer Van Kult, a queer arts collective, I am a founding member of, was one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve ever had because of the sense of community it created in a space where that’s increasingly harder, and more dangerous to even come by. Read more>>

Aracely Gonzalez

Being able to create empowered relationships with those around me really enlarged the way I view confidence & how I’ve managed to build that with not only women all around the world but men as well. A lot of times not only does a client look for a positive experience but an ear to listen or shoulder to cry on . Read more>>

Darren Thompson Jr

One meaningful project I have been creating is greeting cards. It all started from seeing it as a free item from a Walgreens email offer to now creating genuine heartfelt emotions for people to receive. It really started as something I just wanted to try out. As I continued to work on the cards, I realized it was an outlet to express my creativity and connect with people through my artwork. Read more>>

Owen Nathanael

One of my goals as a composer is to create a tangible impact in society by shedding light on stories that deeply resonate with me. My most recent scoring project, an animated short film titled “52Hz” by MEGANErd Productions, allowed me to achieve just that. In this five-minute movie, various themes such as disability, nature, and war are explored, all presented in an adorable animation that audiences of all ages can enjoy. Read more>>

Michael Perez

I am actually approaching the last stretch on finishing my debut album, Affirmations. This album will tell the story of me being in the deepest pits of my depression, where I truly wanted to end myself, up to today,after I actually want to be alive, where I actuality found beauty in my life. The album has songs such as, Rescue Me, in which I am rapping as if I am at the end of my rope and am letting out one last cry for help before I “kick the chair”. Read more>>

Marenda Escobar

In my role as a Marketing Specialist at a public library, I have the privilege of sharing the organization’s story through digital media. This often involves sharing the stories of community members who use the library’s resources, and as a result I’ve connected with several people who have inspired me. I’ve shared stories featuring musicians who use the library’s recording studio to produce music, a local author who writes at the library, talented artists who paint captivating murals, and one of the library’s most enchanting branch locations. Read more>>

Evelyn Burnette

Right now I am working on a project that I hope will provide healing for moms that have experienced a miscarriage or infant loss. In February I found out I was expecting my first child. At the end of March, I was devastated to find out that I had a miscarriage. I was 12 weeks pregnant at the time. The past 3 months have been an extremely intense time. Read more>>

Sydney Welch

Let me start off by saying, if I’m not passionate about something that my energy is involved in, I simply won’t do it. One of the most meaningful projects I’ve had the pleasure of working on was for my photography class during my last semester of college. Read more>>

Bonnie Gonzo

My projects are significant, mainly when I express my love for pop culture through painting movies and TV scenes. However, there’s something uniquely meaningful about taking on requests and commissions. Read more>>

Katrina Lee

The most meaningful project I have worked on has been my very first self published guided journals, 100 Shades of You. Along with a recent project I released, Self Portrait Journal Series. I have always had a passion for writing; whether it were fiction, journaling, poetry, short stories… anything! It was the easier way for me to express things I’d gone through and grown through. Read more>>

Keith Gittens-Jones

My current project that is very meaningful for me is the Phantom Electric Ghost Podcast. Back in 2017 I was approached by a podcaster named “Rock Tunes” on the podcast app SpareMin. Rock Tunes had found a lot of my music as the Electronic Musician “Phantom Electric Ghost” on SoundCloud. Read more>>

Hannah Foster

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on would definitely be my digital planners. I have never been a woman without a planner (balancing multiple jobs, school, hobbies, life in general), and I have literally spent hundreds of dollars on different planners to find the best one for me. After my last planner purchase, I was still missing something. Read more>>

Joe Rapp

The most meaningful projects that I have ever been a part of is definitely the improv company I helped found in 2006, The Bearded Company. Multiple awards, a podcast, and with groups in Minneapolis and Los Angeles, it has been a thrill. I’ve had the opportunity to perform and teach all over the United States and have met and made friends everywhere we have been. Read more>>

Patricia “Patches” Brown

One of the most rewarding and meaningful projects I have worked on and coordinated was creating a book club. Something so simple and an idea that came to me one day has become such a passion project. I have been a reader most of my life, but when COVID lock down came about I decided to read more seriously, and found a huge community of readers like myself who dabbled a bit in their childhood, but didn’t consider it a hobby. I noticed, Read more>>

Heather Dickey

I host a weekly podcast called Totally Mackinac Island. The idea didn’t start off with a podcast. Initially I wanted to do a blog about Mackinac. I started that and realized blogging is not my thing. I share better by talking. Podcasts have become my go too since the pandemic. Originally I had been doing another podcast in a little bit of everything yet every other week I was talking about Mackinac Island. So after a visit to the island and not loving blogging but I wanted to share all I can as a tourist to help those visiting the island- Totally Mackinac Island Podcast was born. Read more>>

Kristen Jeter

In 2019, I did my first TYA show. That’s Theater for Young Audiences. The show premiered at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, a play called Ghost by Idris Goodwin, adapted from the novel by Jason Reynolds. The story is about a Black middle schooler who starts acting out after his family is split up by domestic violence. He reluctantly joins a city track team that gives him the discipline, stability and community necessary for him to choose light at a time when it’s so easy for kids to fall through the cracks. Read more>>

Oni Sakti

For Visual Artwork it would be a toss up between the large piece Monument that I did last year, and the 30 painting Icons Of Horror series. For the piece Monument I went above and beyond my usual style and technique, using more shades than normal, making a large wooden from with shelves, and collecting items for each shelf that were significant and meaningful to the woman I was painting. Read more>>

Brenda Manthe

What started as an experiment many years ago has turned into a project that’s personally meaningful to me. Every few years I go through a period of questioning the value and worth of my photography. I had grown a bit tired of abstract street photography and was completely lost. Should I quit? Why can’t I create beautiful photos like everyone else? Am I a fraud? You know, questions that run through most peoples’ minds at least once in their life. Read more>>

Meagan Jaynes

I just finished recording a very exciting new project, I got to work with some incredible people and friends and am so deeply proud of it all. It’s meaningful in so many different ways, but overall just very proud of and excited to share it. Read more>>

Horace Alexander Young

One of the most or if not THE most meaningful projects I have ever worked on, was conducting the NATIONAL SYMPHONY OF SOUTH AFRICA (1993) which was during apartheid. This concert was a welcome home concert for native South African Abdullah Ibrahim-the nations most prolific composer. Read more>>

Ami Baker

I’m currently in the long process of a project that means a lot to me; the recording of an album based off my experiences with my failing health. Some people who have been following me for a while may know about and have heard my song, “Rock Bottom”, (available anywhere you stream music), but only a few of them know that the song was written about my health. Since I wrote the song “Rock Bottom” in October 2021, Read more>>

Drip Kultur

Working as a starring character in movie “EVERYTHING IS BOTH” by JaQuavius Coleman. I landed the role not from doing auditions, but because of my image. Getting to learn the acting role was easy but hard at the same time. I had to get into my characters head. After reading the script, I became the character so my movements and actions were authentic. Read more>>

Shana Gourdine

My most meaningful project is creating Shana Unmasking Motivation where we dedicated our time and mission to help elevate people to their greatest potential . At Shana Unmasking Motivation, our mission is to empower individuals to love themselves and become the best version of themselves, regardless of their past or present circumstances. Read more>>

Christina Mellor

My art has always been fueled by self-love. I grew up, like so many other young people. I was feeling deeply insecure. Then, I entered a career of making people feel good about themselves, holding up the mirror to their beauty. Routinely providing this experience for other people made me question what was possible for me. I started to photograph myself. taking self-portraits, and learning to see myself through the kind eyes I saved for everyone else. Read more>>

Bill Zima

Without a doubt the most meaningful project has been the Morse translations. From a simple process of drawing morse code, and spelling out names, a whole host of creative opportunities are unfolding in front of me and I feel like a chicl rushing from one candy to the next! But how do you define meaningful? Recently BLISS Conversations, and in particular how elements of them can be applied to Conflict Management, have given me pause. Read more>>

Veronica Gagliano Averkamp

I have been teaching art classes and workshops through the Racine Art Museum since 2015 at the Wustum campus in Racine, Wisconsin. RAM’s Wustum Museum has one of the largest museum-based studio art programs in Wisconsin. I teach classes in a variety of media, for kids and adults of all ages and skill levels. Read more>>

Veronica Centeno-Cruz

For the past year I have been working on a sensory friendly program for those in the community that may be sensory or spectrum sensitive. As a stylist who worked with kiddos for 4 years, I noticed a gap in the salon environment. Not only for kiddos but also adults. Sounds, smells, and sensation really aren’t considered when welcoming a guest into the salon space. I even found myself developing sensitivities to sound and smell as a stylist. Read more>>

Katie Bowman

I have done so many different types of photography sessions. You know, the typical weddings, senior photos, engagement sessions, maternity photos, and newborns. However, sometimes I want to step out of that typical and do something different. I like to express myself in all kinds of ways; photography being one of the biggest forms of expression. Read more>>

Nickie Lewis

I started my current artistic path as a way to spread joy and encourage connection during Covid. I created 7 large scale sculptures in a local park along the small dog walking trails. I wanted to give the seniors and vulnerable folks in the neighborhood a safe, fun way to get outside and interact with others. This project will always be close to my heart, as I met so many wonderful people and it was a truly magical experience to witness so many individuals expressing joy, in a time of such despair. Read more>>

Yijuan “Reggie” Zhao

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on is a short film called Aves. This project was not only grand in its production scale but more importantly it leveled my horizon and editorial judgments. The film started off as a typical linear structured story where we follow Abel Marks, a professor who is haunted by his memory during World War II, as he finds out the truth about his past. Read more>>

Ayana Love

Meaningful projects? Yeah, as a creative they all mean something to you no matter how big or small or no matter how old or new. At different moments in life the words, sounds, visuals, and colors all mean different things to you as you journey through this lifetime. I’ve rediscovered myself a million different times through my creations feeling something like waking up each morning the same at soul level, but more improved and mature with each awakening. Read more>>

Pavel Gazdyuk

When I was on my OPT back in 2021, I co-DP’d a feature drama The Beethoven Method with my good friend and cinematographer Flemming Laursen. It is a story about friendship, love, creativity, and being critical to yourself. These are the topics that anyone could relate to but what attracted me to this particular project is that it was based on real events, on someone’s life. Read more>>

Jacob Boehne

It would be difficult to pick “the most meaningful project.” As a tattooer, all the work that I do is meaningful to the clients that I serve. And the act of tattooing is meaningful to me because it is timeless and sacred ritual. A powerful shared experience. However, the work that I do as an Art Educator and Intervention Specialist sticks out. I work as an art teacher for students in Kindergarten through High School graduation in a behavioral health and education program. Read more>>

William Harris

I will say the most meaningful project I worked on so far is probably the one I’m working on now which is a photo book of my hometown Columbus, Ohio it’s giving me a reason to get out and shoot photos of my hometown in a different light than what I’m use to and gives me a better appreciation of the city I grew up in. Read more>>

Libby Levin

I’ve completed many meaningful projects in my time as a photographer. My personal belief is that professional photography should not be a luxury and EVEYONE deserves access to high quality photos of their loved ones. Over the years, I have worked a 9-5 job in order to stand by my belief and be able to provide my photography without the mind-boggling prices. Read more>>

Shivawn Mitchell

At the top of the pandemic I found myself newly relocated back to the area that I grew up in with no friends close to me and the world flipped upside down. I had plans of establishing my production company and creating projects that I felt like the world needed. Faced with the challenges of not being able to work in person and lack of my own social community I started “produced” a podcast called Seated with Strangers. Read more>>

Ryan LeVanseler

The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on is myself, and the vision I have for “Seeds to Dreams” I consider myself the greatest project I’ve ever worked on, and will ever work on, because that’s all I truly have at the end of everything – at the end of each day, and at the end of this life. If I desire something, I’m the one that has to obtain it. When I’m faced with a situation, Read more>>

Matthew Colombini

Thanks for having me! Tis truly an honor and privilege to have this opportunity to talk with you here on CanvasRebel, sharing some words and stories with your readers. I have been creating music for over a decade now; many projects have went from my mind, to a notepad, into my home studio, and bounced out as a finished product. Albums, EPs, singles; no matter if it’s short or long form content, I’ve learned that without any meaning or heart? Read more>>

Khariyyah Shabazz

The most meaningful projects I have worked on are workshops where I get to inform and inspire others to take action within their communities. These workshop topics range from building meaningful relationships with youth to using your inner voice to get what you want in life. These are impactful because I am able to cater to all learning styles in order to get my point across. I am also able to interact with all workshop participants and engage in meaningful learning. Read more>>

Teghan Devon

My EP, “Little Lion”, is without a doubt the most meaningful, most personal, project I’ve ever worked on, and it was one of the hardest to finish. When I was 5 years old, I told my parents whenever we adopted a dog, I was going to name him Sarge. 2 years later, when we were looking at puppies, a tiny yellow lab peed on me. I decided he had picked me and we were meant to be together. I was right. Read more>>

Laura Kemp

I’ve found meaningful projects in unexpected places. A while ago, I started a FB Group called Kemp Camp, and it’s been going strong for over 3 years now. I thought the bulk of the content would be about my books, and at times it is, but I’ve found the most rewarding aspect of my group is the community it has provided for people, apart from my novels. We do monthly birthdays, and the response is just overwhelming. Read more>>