Art & Design,Visual ArtAUG 27, 2014

Street Artists Cover Mexican Island In Murals To Help Save Sharks And Manta Rays

In collaboration with 1xRUN, Residencia Gorila, World Art Destinations and Juxtapoz Latin America, PangeaSeed are pleased to share with you the results of "Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans - Mexico Expedition". The week-long mural festival resulted in 14 amazing large scale ocean-themed murals on the island of Isla Mujeres, Mexico.

Our goal was to raise awareness for the conservation of the ocean and greatly needed protection for the whale sharks and manta rays off the Yucatan peninsula, by means of art and creativity.

For this pioneering project, we collaborated with a select group of internationally acclaimed contemporary artists who were given the opportunity to swim with and study whale sharks and oceanic manta rays and experience these majestic giants in their natural environment. Both of these iconic ocean animals are listed as species threatened with extinction on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.

Inspired by their personal animal encounters, the artists created the murals to help educate and raise greatly needed awareness within the local and tourist communities as well as to highlight the benefits of ecotourism and the long-term sustainability of natural resources.

Photo courtesy of Tre' Packard | PangeaSeed.org 2014