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.

Connor Christian

I’m currently finishing up what’s turned into one of the most meaningful projects of my artistic life. While the band and I were creating our last full LP, New Hometown, it was a very organic and collaborative process. Though I’d written most of the songs myself, we’d road tested them, gotten in front of hundreds of audiences and honed each little part to just where we wanted them. Ten years on, things have changed – the band members have drifted to the corners of the earth. I’m still writing and singing the songs, but I don’t have the luxury of taking them on the road anymore. I’m lucky to have met more extremely talented musicians that have helped me FINALLY bring this follow-up record to life, a decade after we expected to be doing it. I’ve spent the last 24 months working on this album, trying out different parts, taking it back to the lab, and really trying to make “One More For The Road” the follow-up record that “New Hometown” deserved. Read more>>

Ann Diener

The project I’m currently working on for the Getty Pacific Standard Time Art+Science. The exhibition will take place at The Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) in 2024. The subject of my project is industrial agriculture. It is a fascinating topic which encompasses issues of land use, water, soil, food and the architecture of modern-day factory farming. The issue of water is of paramount importance to farming and it has important sociological, racial and class ramifications. Investigating and drawing images of land, water is my way of interpreting ecological decline, man’s imprint on the land, natural cycles, and the changing climate. As a fourth generation descendant of a pioneer farming family, I have witnessed monumental changes to the Southern California farmland. Read more>>

Murielle Banackissa

The most meaningful project I have worked on is writing my cookbook. I was approached by Appetite, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada in the summer of 2020 to work on a proposal for a cookbook. After it was approved that same year, I got to work on my very first vegan cookbook. This was the biggest project I have ever had to work on because of its scope. Over the course of a year and a half, I created and wrote 100 recipes as well styled, shots, and edited all the pictures that are featured in my book. This project was very meaningful to me because most of my work is about creating recipes and shooting food photos for brands based on their aesthetic and/or the ingredients they’d like to be featured. Read more>>

Mal Strunk

I created an intention filled photoshoot for myself when I first started designing with flowers. I designed my first flower crown for myself and wrapped myself in purple fabric on top of the coolest cliff. My incredible friend and the best photographer, Cara Lindsey, made me feel so comfortable and powerful! The photos from this photoshoot became so meaningful for me and I loved seeing myself as art for the first time. This photoshoot inspired me to create intentional and meaningful photoshoots for others to express themselves! I call these photoshoots, “Healing in the Blooms”. Being able to see others and witness their vulnerability has been so impactful for me. Read more>>

Jen Waters

One of the most meaningful projects that I’ve worked on is adapting the life of Milton S. Hershey as a Broadway musical. I wrote the book for the stage for it and about 21 songs so far. For the past several years, I would rotate working on it between other things. It still needs a financier and workshopped for the stage, so I know what else to change in the script. Since I grew up in Hershey, Pennsylvania, attending Hershey High School, a public high school, from my parents’ back yard, you could see the homes where students from the Milton Hershey School lived. The Milton Hershey School is a private boarding school for orphaned students supported financially by the money from the Hershey Company. Growing up in Hershey, I rode the ride at Hershey’s Chocolate World several times a year. It tells Milton’s life story, so by my teenage years, I had his life story memorized. Read more>>

Ciera Robinson

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on was a boudoir session with a DV victim, like myself. She was excited but also nervous, and you could tell. So, we put on some feel-good music and then started the hype up. But that still wasn’t enough to get this Goddess to come out. So, I stripped right with her. Once she started to see some of the images, I watched her come out of her shell. There were a few times where she made some self-deprecating comments, and I was not having that! Any time she felt less than confident about a pose or part of her body… I did it right with her! Her images still remain as some of my favorite of all time. Read more>>

Sarah Powell

As a producer for The Table Co\Lab, a tiny start up company dedicated to producing new work by people of marginalized genders, I was able to get the rights to produce the world premiere of The Danger Year, by Georgia Stitt. She’s a huge name in our industry, not only because of her compositions, but also because of her work as founder of Maestra, an organization dedicated to promoting gender equity in the music theater industry. I was able to connect with Georgia personally, and she worked with our company through the production process, even writing new songs that were heard for the first time in our production. It was a huge leap reaching out to her to land the show, and it was such a satisfying experience to produce it, and act in it as well. Read more>>

Sher and Randhir

In 2022, I organized and co-hosted a brainchild of mine, the Ebb and Flow festival. Together with many Wichita artists, creators, teachers, and go-getters and the Rekinection crew out of Kansas City, we made this restival a true gem. The goal was to bring a playful and diverse set of teachings and workshops to our community in a family friendly healing environment. We had a really good time. We painted with things found in nature, we had live DJs, nature walks, wire wrapping and a whole slew of things to enrich the experience. Our closing ceremony we walked a labyrinth together and had a huge group hug. We felt supported, connected to our creativity and our families. Ebb and Flow was really about self-exploration; cultivating joy, curiosity, and playfulness in a safe community environment. Read more>>

Rebecca Krueger

My most meaningful project was a sunflower granny square blanket that I crocheted for my older sister. It was my first ever granny square project! It was also a very big blanket and added to 100 squares. This blanket took me over a year to start and finish and there were a lot of times where I struggled to finish it. This project is so meaningful to me because it was my first order completed after my crochet business launched. My sister trusted that I could take an idea she saw and make it into a reality for her home. She was supportive and encouraged me through every trial. It was an incredible learning experience to make this blanket, and it opened the door for me to continue to make bigger projects! Read more>>

Renee Gould

After university, I met my husband, a fourth-generation farmer who is still farming the same land that his ancestors did. Many of our neighbours have similar stories to his and the history lies thick here in the Alberta prairie. As a white female living in Canada I often felt that I didn’t know my family’s history or traditions, not the way they do out here. Out here people share the stories and traditions orally, it can also be seen in the fields where old equipment lays dormant. By moving to the prairies I feel like I have uncovered parts of my history and what life might have been like for my own ancestors. My art has evolved to become a reflection of our personal western lifestyle, our neighbours, our community, and its history. Read more>>

Daniel Leighton

One of the most meaningful projects I ever embarked on was my first solo show, “Opening Up”, which took place in 2013. This exhibition chronicled my decades-long journey of coming to terms with deeply-rooted trauma. My trauma began at the age of five when I was hospitalized for the first time, and I received my initial diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD, encompassing Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease). During this first hospital stay, I was taken into a room without my parents. There, a tube was forcibly inserted into my nose, down my throat, and into my stomach. Neither I nor my parents had been informed about this procedure—I had actually thought I was being discharged. Read more>>

Macie Torres

Although there have been many projects I have had the honor to work on, the most meaningful one was a recent mother and daughter shoot. I have previously felt underqualified at these types of sessions because I am not a mother. Although I work with children and study their behaviors, how can I capture a mother, daughters bond? I typically do not do “model calls” unless I have someone in mind. I usually get connected with people who share a bit of their life story with me and then pick the session according to their needs. Back in October of last year, I was connected with a former friend. She asked for family pictures and the scheduling never matched up. I know this was all part of God’s plan. During June of this year, I had the perfect vision for a mother, daughters shoot. I immediately reached out to my friend and expressed my ideas. Read more>>

Scot Wittman

Currently I am at Harvard University’s Artlab collaborating on a yearlong project involving new technologies that will deliver new modes of art experiences. This organically grew out of a conversation started when someone from Harvard and MIT came to my solo exhibition in Boston in January. A life-size 3D-print of dancer Kim Landle in that exhibition became a topic of many conversations; the show also involved my Grand Jeté Photography Series, 60 of the ‘same’ drawings of a crow, slow-motion video projection of a dancer in a storm, ice structures melting during the Opening, NFTs and a smashed vase with ice and roses spilling off the pedestal to the floor. The exhibition was titled JUSTICE.* Read more>>

Ben Wilson

In late 2020, I came across a true crime podcast called, “In The Red Clay.” It is the true story of the Dixie Mafia operating out of Winder, Georgia in the 1960s and ’70s, focused on the life of a man named, Billy Sunday Birt. He is the deadliest man in Georgia history, a hitman, bank robber, bootlegger, and he and his car have been inducted into the Moonshine Hall of Fame as the fastest car and driver of the stock care era. His son and grandson, Stoney and Stone, run a micro-distillery out of Winder. In December of 2o20, I stopped in to meet Stoney, try some whiskey, and hear stories. In that first meeting, I told Stoney about my intentions to write some songs about his dad and their stories from the podcast. Read more>>

Rachel Yurkovich

My art happens in phases that become their own series. The latest endeavor is a video series titled Foreign Bodies. It started as me capturing short video clips (kind of like live photos) of scenes where the human-made and nature go where we don’t want them to go. They are scenes such as a dead animal on the road or a plastic bag caught in a plant. Captured by phone or DSLR, I eventually collected many of these from occurrences I pass in daily life and a bigger theme emerged. It’s meaningful to me because it makes us notice things we may normally look over in our everyday life and question. Read more>>

Vera Gierke

An organization with which I recently started volunteering is Farm Fresh Rhode Island, which was started by Brown University students to bring farmers and their products to the city and various state-wide locations. Through my new connection with Farm Fresh I had the opportunity to expand upon my recent interest in printmaking. When Farm Fresh began excavating for their permanent location in 2017, they unearthed a significant supply of marble and determined that it was left over from the building of the RI State House in the late 1800’s and into 1900’s. At that time Rhode Island was a wealthy state and wanted a grand State House to reflect that. Farm Fresh was planning a sale of the unearthed marble and wanted to “enhance” some of it for added value. Read more>>

Sandi Wilson

I have made a point of trying to add new and innovative ways of teaching in every program that I have built. My newest program has to be my biggest and most exciting endeavor yet. I have had the pleasure of working for the Franklin School of Innovation in Asheville, NC for the last two years. In that time, I have had unbelievable support from Franklin to build a program that is an entirely new approach to instrumental ensemble education. Along with a thriving choral program, I have developed a Modern Orchestra program at our school. This allows students (7th-12th grade) who play ANY instrument to come together and create a large performing ensemble. This approach has gotten incredible buy-in from the students. Over the past two years, we have gone from having about 25 students in the whole music program to 80-100 students in EACH ensemble. Read more>>

Lena Báez

For each story I film, I meticulously consider the meaning it will convey. There are no small projects in my eyes. I value the importance of telling stories that can cause change, break barriers, and challenge taboos. Every story is meaningful to me because it explores emotions, relationships, struggles, and the full spectrum of human experiences. I firmly believe that filmmaking is a powerful tool for freedom of expression. Therefore, irrespective of the size of the project, whether filmed with an iPhone or a RED Camera, all that matters is the content it carries and the meaning the director wishes to convey through the story. Read more>>

Dora Chu

My team has an amazing comedy/wellness project in development on the west coast, and i have spectacular team members to thank The project focuses on uplifting our self-talk. Our initial reactions to situations, people, and issues are powerful, and it’s easy to jump to negative conclusions about ourselves or others, assign blame unfairly, or make hasty judgments. These pesky reactions influence “what we tell ourselves”, and negative self-talk can impact our lives far into the future. Read more>>

Zak Khan

I experienced a lot of growth as a musician and producer once I started collaborating with people that I felt connected to outside music and to this day that is a big consideration for whether or not I will work on a project. When you believe in a project or a client, the process can feel like a dance and less like gritty work. I also prioritize meaningful projects because I want the people that I’m working with to feel valued and heard. If feel my heart isn’t fully invested I often will try to help a client find a better fit for them. It’s really all about alignment for me at the end of the day. When people who are aligned collaborate the energy is exponentially more fruitful and fulfilling. There is no need to force it when you can flow. Read more>>

Tim Corpus

As a composer I often have multiple projects going at the same time. Some are in pre-production, post-production, or in the heart of the composing process. It’s always an ebbing & flowing journey. “Double Concerto for Percussion” – I was commissioned to compose a new concerto for percussionists Ed Harrison (Lyric Opera of Chicago) and Vadim Karpinos (Chicago Symphony Orchestra) with the Chicago College of Performing Arts, where they are both faculty. This large-scale concerto will be premiered in 2024 at Chicago’s historic Auditorium Theatre. Read more>>

Crystal Brown

The Pueblo History project holds a special place in my heart, as it has not only allowed me to delve into the rich history of Pueblo but also fostered a deep connection with my town and its people. Through this endeavor, I have the privilege of exploring significant historical events that shaped our community, unearthing forgotten stories and preserving the essence of our past. The project’s focus on Pueblo’s history has helped me appreciate the sacrifices and contributions made by those who came before us, instilling a profound sense of pride in my town’s heritage. The opportunity to share these insights with others has allowed me to contribute to the cultural preservation and strengthen the bonds within our community, making it a truly meaningful and rewarding experience. Read more>>

Tyler Lang

My most meaningful project to date would be my latest album, “The Calm Before.” It took a while to make because I wanted the sound to be right. I didn’t want it to sound exactly like my previous album, “BROKEN.” I wanted “The Cam Before” to have a bit of influence from “BROKEN” but still be its own separate and different project with some stories and some creativity behind it. Read more>>

Jon Giurleo

In the ever-evolving landscape of music production, groundbreaking technologies have revolutionized the way artists create and express themselves. One such innovation is the GrimesAI voice generator, a cutting-edge tool developed by the visionary music artist Grimes. This article delves into a project that utilizes the GrimesAI voice generator for a mesmerizing song titled “Heaven.” “Heaven” emerges as a fascinating project that seamlessly combines artistry and technology. By employing the GrimesAI voice generator, the song takes on a unique and captivating dimension. GrimesAI lends its distinctive voice to the song, creating an ethereal and otherworldly ambiance that enchants listeners. Read more>>

Fabian Jaime

The most meaningful projects I’ve worked on have been the ones I’ve had the chance to produce or help produce. As just an actor on a project it is great to be able to prepare, go to set, perform and be done with that role or project. But when I produce a project I’m acting in it is even more meaningful because I prepare not only my performance but the project as a whole. I get to bring everything together before anyone makes it on set. Having creative input on the project as a whole is meaningful. Before, while and after we film because it becomes your baby. You are there every step of the way. It becomes more special to me. I also have more expectations of the project when I produce.. Of course I’m committed as an actor, that’s my job. Read more>>

Tonya Blue- Shelby

In the last few years, I have friends who have lost a parent(s). This part of the adult journey is not one any child wants to travel. No one is ever prepared no matter if there was an illness or unexpected turn of events, no one want to travel this road. My friends/family grieved and mourned in different ways and all I wanted to do was help. Birthday’s, holiday’s and especially Mother’s / Father’s Day are always the hardest and many of my friends shut down during that time of year. Most of the time we don’t know what to say to a friend dealing with such a loss, and I was no different recently supporting my husband during the passing of his dad. When words won’t do action will. I believe love is an action word and it was time to move. I wanted my husband, friends, and cousins to know they were prayed and thought of, so I began. My collages are of women whose faces or bodies are covered with words to tell a story or give a statement of empowerment. Our bodies say what our lips wont. Read more>>

JOSH DEANGELIS

There are so many circumstances where I’m brought onto jobs that I have no investments in other than financial gain. Because of this, I find solace in my personal projects. One project in particular, I have been working on for 2-3 years on and off. Here is the project synopsis: ‘This photographic project takes you on a journey through the life of a pioneering member of the Federation of Black Cowboys. Through immersive visits to his hometown of Wetumka, Alabama and intimate conversations with those closest to him, we uncover the pivotal moments and experiences that have shaped the man’s character. Read more>>

Gefei Liu

Throughout my career as a theatre artist, each project I have undertaken has held profound meaning in its own right. However, there is one endeavor that remains especially close to my heart – “20200123 Live.” Project Description: Taking the form of “zoom theatre”, “20200123 Live” is an intimate portrayal based on the firsthand experiences of six individuals from Wuhan, who endured fear, discrimination, and isolation during the 76-day lockdown. The diverse cast, spanning different ages and backgrounds, courageously shares their stories of grief, tenacity, and hope. Through this poignant presentation, the daily lives of real Wuhan residents are brought to light, fostering understanding and healing within the community. Combining theatre and dance, this interdisciplinary exploration truthfully depicts an unprecedented collective trauma through the eyes, voices, and memories of those who lived it. Read more>>

Johnny Carrera

The city I live in, San Antonio, Texas didn’t have a local radio station that would play their music. So, I decided to create a streaming radio station and provide an outlet for local musicians to have their music heard. The station only plays local music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are registered with music registries, so they do get paid when we play their music. It’s not much, but we don’t want them to think they are bing taken advantage of. We also host a few talk shows, and provide adds for upcoming performance events. Read more>>

JB Teller

I first started writing when my son went to school for the first time. He had been m doc ally comprised for many years. He started actual school in fifth grade. I all of a sudden didn’t have a full time job with him. So, the first day I went to the coffee shop I sat there. This went on for several days until I decided to write down some adventures that my sister and I have had over the previous several years. After about a week of that, I had finished writing all of those adventures. Then I decided to turn those adventures into a fictional romcom. At the very same time as I was deciding to write the romcom of mine and my sister’s adventures, we learned that my sister had cancer. It became a way for us to relive all the funny things that happened to us..As the months went on, It quickly turned into my mission to finish this book and read it to her before it was too late. Thankfully, I was able to do that. Read more>>

Monika Loster

As an artist I always find myself wanting to learn and try new things. As our experiences build and we grow emotionally, our lives go through many changes. I am of the opinion our work should grow with us. Of course it’s fine to do the same thing over and over again, especially if you have a large audience base that has developed a taste for a particular outing but to actually evolve as an artist one has to take a risk sometimes and step out of their comfortable boundaries. While a great deal of my work is in some way inspired by biomorphic shapes and other elements found in nature I used to mostly confine myself to producing and displaying artwork purely intended for indoor exposure. As I started to use more and more natural materials in my works, I started to think about the possibility of expanding the stage so to say. Read more>>

Sella Molenaar

As a freelance illustrator I love to work with brands who want to contribute to a positive and empowering image of women and a better and fairer world. The most meaningful projects I did where with brands who choose me for my vision, mision and of course artistic style and let me run as free as possible. Mutual respect is key. I don work with brands that pollute the planet and exploit their workers any more and I’m soooo done with fast fashion. Some examples are the work I did for Marie Jo; a female run lingerie brand that produces for and by women in Belgium for which I created lot’s of branding expressions varying from product tags to event invites. Also the #mybodyismine campaign I did with Dutch feminist non profit organisation Mama Cash is high on the list. Read more>>