Mural of America; the intersection of art, science and spirituality.
I'm writing this journal entry at the end of my first day at The National Geographic Storytellers Summit in LA. A warm Nat Geo Society director ushered my friend, Calvin Gin, and I into a private conversation with two explorers and I felt instant synergy.
Stephen Alvarez and Dustin Mater tell the story of the Murals of America in LA at The National Geographic Storytellers Summit Watch here
Stephen Alvarez, an award winning National Geographic Explorer greeted us. His passion led him to found the Ancient Art Archive, an international non-profit dedicated to digitally preserving and sharing the planet’s oldest artworks. The project he introduced to us, called Mural of America, grew out of this space.
Stephanie Welsh, the Executive Director of the Archive and Education Director for the Mural of America project was literally glowing with excitement. The first words out of her mouth were spoken with such passion and care I felt goosebumps rise on my arms. I knew she was in my path for a reason and someone I needed to learn more about. The heartfelt experiences driving these two explorers was shaping my “Why” in realtime.
The Mural of America project has identified ten sacred rock art sites across North America, a depth of history rarely shared.
Spirituality is a rich part of Native American culture and tradition. Heartache had led me on a deeper pursuit of spirituality the last five years. While my original motivator has mostly healed, my appetite to dive deeper into the spiritual world is bottomless.
Minutes into the conversation I hear myself asking, “How deeply spiritual do you feel this project is?”
Stephen paused for a moment and said, “this isn't something that I often share, but it is wildly spiritual.”
His next story began to cement my curiosity in the project.
One of the project’s Native American collaborators, Larry Cesspooch, is a photographer and spiritual guide. While on a photography assignment in the mountains, Larry and his team hiked to their destination and set up their gear. The whole team was ready to begin, but when they tried to use their equipment, there was zero power coming to the equipment. This seemed strange since all the gear was charged and double checked beforehand.
Puzzled, Larry lead the team back to the base for lunch. While taking this pause, he reflected on his approach and recognized it was entirely wrong. Before instructing the team to try again, Larry decided to state his intentions and make an offering to the sacred site. After that, he gave the team the go-ahead, and everything worked perfectly … even though they hadn’t touched the equipment since that morning.
Larry had realized that a lack of reverence shut down access to a very sacred site and a spiritual experience. By offering reverence the opportunity re-opened.
A portion of the Panther Cave pictograph panel in Seminole Canyon, Texas. Photo by @salvarezphoto Panther Cave is a huge Pecos River Style Mural at the junction of Seminole Canyon and the Rio Grand. Some of these giant figures are over 4 meters tall.
This is really interesting, but not at all surprising. I believe it’s a common situation that happens to many of us often. Because the spiritual world isn't visible, we often forget that it is accessible. I’ve come to learn that access to the spiritual world is experienced through acknowledging true reverence. The requirement isn’t depth, but sincerity. The individual’s depth is developed over time as growth happens.
Stephen begins to work with Larry on the Mural of America. One day, while photographing on a beach, a bear walks straight into his path and stares at Stephen. Shockingly the bear turns and walks away. Stephen had begun to state his name, his intentions and bringing an offering of tobacco, water or food before filming sacred sites. Stephen felt he had been accepted in a whole new way. A bear symbolizes a spiritual guide, the bear signified that he was welcome to document the sacred sites.
So why are we involved in the Mural of America? Seminole Canyon is a special place in Texas. Calvin Gin and I are passionate about preserving things unique to Texas. As you can imagine that’s something close to our hearts.
The Mural of America project launches in 2026, and the process for documenting and collaborative storytelling at each site is time consuming. If Seminole Canyon in South Texas is to be part of the Mural of America project we must raise the first $100K by September 2024 to begin getting the proper permits and involvement. This sacred site must be captured this winter, so we need commitments for the remainder of the funding (an additional $150K) by December 2024.
We are excited for the opportunity to highlight Texas in the Mural of America! As lead fundraisers for Seminole Canyon in South Texas we hope you consider joining us in this exciting movement to reveal the depth of history of North America and preserving it for generations to come.
