OpenSea x Maya Spirits: Addressing Social Inequality in Mexico Through Art

What happens when artists leave the studio for the Mayan jungle, and the art they make afterward goes back to the community they met? OpenSea sponsored this year’s Maya Spirits artist retreat in Mexico. For a week, photographers, digital artists, and collectors from around the world rode jeeps through the jungle to temples “older than I can even imagine,” spent time with local families and children, and came away with work inspired by it all. That art is then minted and sold, and the proceeds are reinvested in the community through Maya Spirits. Maya Spirits is a Mexico-based charitable organization working in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, focused on social inequality and conservation: protecting the jungle, supporting women in local communities, and funding education and arts programs for children. It was founded by Dr. Lorenzo Martínez and co-founder Liam Scully and uses blockchain to make giving more transparent. “It can be used as a tool. It can be used as a language.” That’s how one of the people behind Maya Spirits describes what art can do. This mini doc is what that looks like on the ground. Chapters 0:00 Meet the group 3:20 Drawn to the Mayan jungle 4:33 How OpenSea got involved 5:06 Art as contribution 8:05 How Maya Spirits started 9:53 The day with the children 10:53 Ancient temples and a thank-you Featuring Dr. Lorenzo Martínez, founder of Maya Spirits Roger Dickerman, founder of 24 Hours of Art J.N. Silva, photographer and digital artist Saul Flores, collector and creator Gabriella Gabriela, photographer Mendez Mendez, London/Barcelona-based artist Adam Ilenich, OpenSea community team Learn more about Maya Spirits: https://mayaspirits.xyz