Isla Mujeres: Caribbean Street Art with a Message

Meg

8 years ago

Isla Mujeres is a colorful and quirky island, and this is demonstrated with mural after quirky mural as you explore the island. At first as we drove around, I thought street art would be confined to the main populated area. But, as we continued to explore Isla Mujeres, I learned that not only was it everywhere, but this was street art with a message.

Isla Mujeres Street Art & Mural History:

What I didn’t know at the time is that many of these murals are part of a street art project by PangeaSeed called Sea Walls Artists for Oceans. The goal of Sea Walls Artists for Oceans is to “bring the message of ocean conservation into streets across the globe.” Established in 2014, approximately 300 murals have now been created in 12 countries around the globe with the goal of presenting the message of the necessity of our oceans, and dangers to them, into the public eye in a non-confrontational manner.

As for the murals of Isla Mujeres, The artists have been welcomed back to the island four years in a row. In 2014, Artists were were also given the opportunity to swim with and interact with the endangered whale sharks and oceanic manta rays off the coast of the island, and then use this inspiration to create their art.

Exploration of Isla Mujeres Street Art

As we explored the island, I started taking pictures of every mural we came across. I started calling out and making my husband pull over so I could a picture of that weird mural over there!

I admit, it became sort of an obsession. I love the colors, the creative expression. I love covering boring concrete walls and blank sides of buildings with colorful art. I love the idea of street art, free and available to be studied, interpreted, and consumed by anyone passing by, instead of locked behind museum doors.

It got so bad, I decided to return to Isla Mujeres on a day that everyone else wanted to lay by the pool. I wanted to do a little shopping, and some more exploring. To turn down random streets with no purpose – and take my time photographing these pieces of art with abandon.