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.
Karla Bacigalupo
I had the opportunity to participate in the 3rd edition of the Brisk Festival, a theater festival in Los Angeles where excellent plays were performed in English and Spanish. Alongside Ximena Galiano, we co-created “Necesito que me quieras”/ “I need you to love me”. A dramedy that aims to promote self-love despite our insecurities and teach us to not seek external validation. Read more>>
Patrick, Douglas , Andrew Reeves
Our fan base has been so patient with us as we are going through Label/Agent shopping with our new EP. It’s been almost a year since we have released any new material, not for lack of new material mind you. To show all our fans(which we genuinely believe are friends/family) how much their support has meant to us we decided to go into the studio and record a 7 song live album and videos for each release. Read more>>
Our Vibes
We recently launched the Our Vibes Podcast. As content creators who got our start on social media, we have been working to build a platform to talk about representation in media and issues that matter to us in the Latine community, but there is only so much you can do in short-form video content such as reels and TikTok… you only get 60 seconds, even less if you are trying to keep an audience engaged. Read more>>
Ashinedu Jose
In February 2023 I created a project called ‘A Taste of Black Mizzou’ , in efforts to highlight the black community at the University of Missouri, which is curated of creative, intelligent, and talented individuals in any area you could thing of. With the help of my good friend and upcoming stylist Grace Akhalu, we put our minds together from start to finish and co-directed our first project in the series titled “A Taste of Black Mizzou: Yearbook edition”. Read more>>
Lauren Verdugo
In 2020, the giant Holly Oak tree that stood in front of the Whittier Central Library had to be removed for the library’s scheduled full historic restoration/expansion. The tree was saved by the Whittier Conservancy in the hopes it would be used by local artists to be able to put the wood back into the community. Major shoutout to Helen Rahder and David Dickerson for their years of dedication to save this particular historic tree! Read more>>
Nicole Lampl
I think one of the most meaningful exhibitions that I curated is “Women’s Work: New Takes on Textile Art” – not only because it included artwork by phenomenal female artists from all over the country, but also because of the way audiences responded. One day, a police officer stopped into the gallery several months after that exhibition had closed, and he shared with me how much a particular artwork had stuck with him. Read more>>
Jason Adler
To this day, one of the most meaningful and memorable projects I have ever worked on was a documentary I shot for Iggy Pop. This project started off as a small interview with the band that recorded the album for Iggy’s album “Post Pop Depression.” The idea was that these interviews, conducted by the late Anthony Bourdain, would be bonus material for fans pre-ordering the album to gain insight into how this album was made. Read more>>
Geri Patterson-Kutras
I’ve had the privilege of doing a number of commissions for people. Doing a commission is a bit like being a combination of artist and psychologist. You have to dig into who the person/persons is and what exactly their vision is for the finished piece. I had the honor of doing a commission for a member of Pres. Obama’s administration. Read more>>
Cassie Shao
To me, the newest film project will always be the most meaningful project I have worked on. With each independent film project, I try to experiment with mixing in a new medium or incorporating a new stylistic choice either visually or in storytelling, while refining the visual concept and personal style I have developed so far with all of my previous films. Read more>>
Megan Brickwood
The best thing about being a musician is that in the creating, performing, and sharing of your music you are given many opportunities to collaborate with other talented and interesting people. For my recently released EP, Fifth Mile, I traveled to Woodinville, Washington, to record at Bear Creek Studio. I spent a week working intensively with a group of musicians who I’d just met to produce that collection of songs. Read more>>
Katie Franco
I would like to say my most meaningful work is yet to come and still in the works. Even though I have worked a few projects along the way, I am proud to say I was able to experience such gratitude and more in depth of what I love, because it is so much more than just photography. They are photographs that hold such feeling. Read more>>
Caleb & Caitlin Aslor
The most meaningful project we’ve ever worked on was creating an internship for an adolescent that had a passion for photography, but had numerous barriers in her way . We ended up creating an internship to help give this adolescent photography experience, a small income, and a positive experience to help combat some of the challenges they were facing in their lives. What started as an internship became so much more. Read more>>
Claire Galloway
“Without community, opera does not exist. Opera IS community – every single person involved from the front of house to stage management to the performers to the audience contributes something vital to the live energy and vision of the story. ” This is a summary of something director Peter Sellars said in a presentation at Peabody many years ago and it has stuck with me ever since. Read more>>
Jonathan Andre Culliton
It’s so hard to choose because I count several of my films to be turning points in my career! When I made my digital series “Bombshell,” I was approaching telling my story as a gay trans man for the first time. Executive producing Michael Yip’s “Gay Mafia” made me face so many fears about being in charge and it was the beginning of building my queer filmic network. But I think the most significant projects I’ve worked on are truly the ones I’m working on now. Read more>>
John Stewart
My Upcoming Project Titled: Everyday Rebellion. This project is centered around the idea of a rebellion taking place in your life everyday. A rebellion is a violent resistance to control, or authority. In pursuit of your dreams, theres going to be alot of times where you will feel different than what the norm tells you to feel, or you will have to do something that goes against the advice of others. Read more>>
A-Zal
I have written soundtracks for many popular shows and films. Some meaningful projects include Loki (Marvel Studios), Ms. Marvel (Marvel Studios), Resort to Love (Netflix), NCIS:Los Angeles (CBS) and The Twilight Zone (CBS). Working with Marvel Studios literally changed my career and put me in the limelight. The recognition it gave me was immense, not only in Hollywood, but all around the world. Read more>>
Galina Marcus
Being an aspiring artist in the pandemic time was challenging because I felt very isolated. I was desperate to communicate with like-minded people but the galleries were closed, shows and art fairs were canceled, and online workshops seemed too impersonal. I needed an excuse to reach out to artists I admired without sounding lame or desperate. So I thought, hm, what if I create a blog and interview them? This sounds like a win-win situation. Read more>>
Yen Linh Thai
Many of my projects are inspired by stories from my family and culture, and most are made for a specific spot with it’s community in mind. Over the course of exploring, researching, designing, connecting with a place and its people, and carrying out the project with the hopes of it fitting in as a part of a community, they all grow to feel meaningful. It’s tough to choose just a few! Read more>>
Leslie Augustine
The most meaningful projective I’ve worked on is actually something pretty recent. I’ve been disappointed with the kinds of roles and auditions I’ve been given recently. Its been a challenge to really find projects that I connect with. So the beginning of this year I had the opportunity to produce and star in a short film that was created for me. Read more>>
Jennifer Blaine
All my performance work strives to touch and move people. Whether I am making people laugh, or bringing atttention to an overlooked issue, I do it in a way that is disarming and often changes how people think and feel for the better. In the theatre we are looking for a catharsis. As a solo performer I have to somehow accomplish that with just me and my instrument. Read more>>
Edward Halstead
Together Alone (releasing September 2023) a short, West Flies the Raven (releasing 2024) a short now being redeveloped into a feature/series, Read more>>
The Fuzz
The Fuzz curates a space for artists of all kinds to showcase their talent and build a lasting network of supporters and collaborators. When we first moved to Los Angeles, we were shocked to find the amount of spaces that required artists to pay to play or display. We wanted to create an event that allowed all the artists to be compensated fairly and walk away with a community. Read more>>
Mark Caserta
I have worked on many projects that are extremely meaningful so it’s hard to pick one, but I can speak on one that happened very recently that was significantly meaningful. I had the opportunity to spend 10 days at Jacob’s Pillow, a historic dance haven/festival in the Berkshires, solely for the purpose of creative play and choreographic research. Read more>>
Jason Gandy
One of the most meaningful projects that I’ve worked on at my studio, Aardvark Interiors, is the Okulus Desk. This piece marks the genesis of the merging of my art practice with my design process. Read more>>
Perla Maarek
The most meaningful projects I work on are when the location and model inspire me. I am lucky enough to say I cannot pick only one project as there has been many. As an artist there is nothing more meaningful then being turned on artistically by a whole concept, I truly believe that this what I keeps us going on and the reason why we do this job. Read more>>
May Be Fern
We had an inspiring and eye-opening time creating our band’s debut EP, “Okay Grandma, Your Turn”, released in March of 2023. The process of collaborating to produce this body of work taught us about ourselves as artists, communicators, advocates, and friends. For each member of the band, the release of our first single off the album, “Maggie Jane”, marked our first time on Spotify. We are incredibly proud of the work that went into this project, and it left us energized for more. Read more>>
Jon Huck
I was involved in a web series titled My Death Co. about people who work as Grim Reapers in the afterlife. Death is a little mysterious but it’s on everyone’s mind and it comes for all of us eventually. My Death Co. was about that and how, even though we know it’s inevitable, so many of us fight it, or worse. pretend it’s never going to happen. It’s a curious topic. Read more>>
Amanda McDonough
My book “Ready to be Heard: How I Lost My Hearing and Found My Voice” is the most meaningful project I have ever worked on because penning those pages was a therapeutic journey. During the writing process I had to be very introspective; unveiling and explaining how my hearing loss really affected me physically, mentally, and emotionally at all stages of my life. Read more>>
Shannon Massey Smith
I find meaning in every project I do. I’m helping clients succeed and bringing their creative dreams to life. Read more>>
Hannah Ureste
Taking a year off music wasn’t planned but needed while I was creating more financial stability for my wife and I and finding my passion of music and my instrument. In the mist of worrying about life, long term goals, stress, overwhelmed with social media, and more, I lost my creative mind. There wasn’t a drive to create more music nor a deadline for myself. My goals were getting further away in my vision which didn’t make me feel complete. Read more>>
Rob Turner
My album “The Great Big Yes” has been the most meaningful project over the past few years. It’s crazy to be releasing these songs at the end of 2023 when some of these songs were written in the gloomy days of 2020. I have enjoyed writing and recording these songs since then and am very proud of the result. Read more>>
Andrew Pielage
One of my most meaningful projects, and one that I am still actively working on, is to photograph both the interior and exterior of all remaining Frank Lloyd Wright designs around the world. Wright, recognized in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as ‘the greatest American architect of all time,’ designed over 1,000 structures worldwide, of which 532 were built. Now, about 430 remain. Read more>>
Megan James
My current collection has been one of my most meaningful projects to date! The collection titled “Local Knowledge” was created from my desire to pay homage to the South Florida area that has been my home since birth. I’ve been blessed to experience some of the most beautiful seascapes in the world, but this summer I focused solely on the natural environment that has been with me all along and inspired me to examine waves from the beginning. Read more>>
Daniel Corey
I recently finished my first music video. It was the conclusion of a very long and fulfilling journey of life. Read more>>
Tyler Lauren
When I finished my debut project (Not Too Bad For A Crybaby, 2022), I really felt like that was the most meaningful project I’ve worked on, creatively. I think it’ll always be extra special to me, not only because it was my debut, but because the years I put into that project were probably some of the most formative in my life. Read more>>
Rebecca Gonzalez Cifaldi
A project that was meaningful to me was photographic using alternative processes such as cyanotype, gum bichromate, and photo-sensitive dyes. The process led to my using more painterly gestures, relating also to printmaking. The technique led me to restart image-making post graduate school. It seemed I was more able to find my authentic voice in this technique that mixed colors, shapes, and patterns, stemming from photographic sources. Read more>>
Nathan Meltzer
The project that I’m most proud of and most excited about for the future is a chamber music organization called Opus Illuminate that I co-founded back during the early days of the pandemic in 2020. Created as a response to the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing conversations and reckoning of race relations in the United States, Opus Illuminate is a chamber music organization dedicated expanding and enriching the classical music industry by programming and performing works by composers of historically underrepresented communities and heritages. Read more>>
David Smith
One of the most meaningful projects to our business was being invited to decorate for celebrities and influencers such as Cardi B, Jaclyn Hill, Kim & Kroy Biermann, and Rachel Wammack. Our business received a lot of buzz and publicity due to the fact that we are a small business located in north Alabama. Read more>>
Sarah Swensen
My whole life I have known the power of music. I have grown up around music since I was very little with my Grammy teaching me songs while she played the piano. Music has been there through my tough times and good times, and now as a clinical mental health therapist I have not only wrote songs for commercial country but also my goal is to write songs that address mental health or addiction and become an inspiration for people. Read more>>