Art that makes a difference

Our first guest this May is Jennifer Ensley Smith. When Jennifer decided to help the little community on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico where she lives she dove in and created a dynamic and colorful way to make a difference. Tourists who flock to the resort beaches of Akumal also want to swim with the sea turtles. Akumal means turtles in Mayan. The influx of tourists create problems for the sea turtles and their habitat so Jennifer envisioned a way to draw the visitors away from the beach and to the local pueblo located across the highway. Thus began the Akumal Arts Festival. The annual festival draws more than 100 artists from around the world to paint murals. The festival helps the local ecology, economy, and residents as well as provide lessons on art, ecology, and Mayan culture. Adrian Delfin, one of these artists, was featured in one of our earlier podcasts. The visual version of Jen’s interview includes photos and videos of the artistry. You can listen on iTunes and Spotify too!

Next up we are excited to welcome Asher Jay, a visual artist with a passion for the planet. Asher holds a BFA in Fashion Design from New York’s Parsons School of Design and has created work for such well-known organizations as Prada, Adidas, Mission Blue, and Wild Aid. In 2012, Asher was named a United Nations Women Design Star and in 2014 she was designated an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic. Don’t miss it!

There’s lots more in the planning including an interview with musician Jaine Rice who wrote Women of the Water, the theme song for the Women Mind the Water podcast and author and filmmaker Ali Farrell. Ali has written two books on women who fish for lobsters.

If you haven’t done so already, please consider subscribing to our podcast. It should make for some nice summertime R&R. And, don’t forget to check the Shop for a marine animal inspired T-shirt. All proceeds go to help rescue marine mammals.