Group of people posing in front of a beige wall with text about an art event. The event is called 'Construcción de Comunidad', featuring six artists who introduce seven works. There are photos of several individuals, a ladder with bags of material underneath, and details of the event including date, location, and contact information.

Construcción de Comunidad: 6 Artists Introduce 7

The idea for this exhibit comes out of a desire to create bridges within the creative community here in Merida and connect like-minded artists across generations (ranging from 16 to 67) and cultures.

This inaugural Galeria 25 exhibit being included in the very first Week of Art Yucatan was the perfect synchronicity.

Expat artists from the U.S. & Canada living and working in Merida, asked local artists also working here, to either collaborate with them or to show works alongside each other.

Art gallery interior displaying various paintings, sculptures, and installations with stone floors and high ceilings.
A minimalist display with a textured, light grey surface featuring a large green leaf in a white, textured vase on the right, a small black bowl below it, a black power strip on the wall, and an abstract, textured artwork with shades of orange, beige, olive green, and off-white on the left side.
Two framed art pieces hanging on a beige wall in an art gallery. The left artwork features colorful abstract weathered text 'JUNTOS SOLS' with a landscape scene at the bottom. The right artwork is a mixed-media piece with sketches, a small classical painting, and abstract elements.
Contemporary art gallery with large abstract painting featuring swirling, vibrant colors hung on a textured beige wall, illuminated by black professional track lighting, with smaller art pieces and potted plant visible in the background.
An art installation features a spiral staircase made of concrete blocks and wooden surfaces, topped with a pink flamingo sculpture, against a gallery wall with hanging textiles and artwork. The ground is covered with gravel and the background includes abstract textile art and a framed photograph.
An art gallery wall with several framed artworks, including a large painting of people near a body of water and smaller artworks, along with decorative hanging elements and a wreath.
An art gallery with paintings hanging on light-colored walls, a sculpture on a pedestal, and a small table with two chairs. The gallery has a high ceiling with exposed beams and pendant lighting.
Art gallery interior with various paintings on the wall and sculptures, including a wooden sculpture displayed on a round pedestal, all under ceiling track lighting.
Interior of an art gallery displaying paintings, sculptures, and fans on the ceiling, with a stone sculpture in the center.

SEE WORTHY: A Jason Mraz
& Trey Speegle Collaboration

A friendship dating back 15 plus years has produced a new gallery exhibition, See Worthy: A Jason Mraz & Trey Speegle Collaboration, in Merida, Yucatan at Galeria 25.

Videographer, Jeff Coffman, captured the work being created over 8 time-lapsed hours to produce a tight 5 minutes set to Mraz’s song, Disco Sun from his 2023 album Mystical, Magical, Rythmical Ride.

Now the duo is offering a limited edition signed print of SEE WORTHY with 50% of the proceeds going to The Jason Mraz Foundation, which supports inclusive arts education, advancement of equality, and food security. The print sales will help fund bringing young artist from North & South America to Speegle’s Galeria 25 studio residency in Merida, Mx, beginning in 2027.

Comparison of two photos showing the progress of the 'See Worthy' project. The first photo from 2012 shows two men shaking hands, one wearing a hat, in front of a table with a large 'SEE WORTHY' banner. The second photo from 2026 shows two men shaking hands in front of a wall with a 'SEE WORTHY' banner, with text indicating a one-week progress from 2012 to 2026. Contact details for an art gallery are listed at the bottom.

MY WORK IS based on vintage paint-by-number paintings recontextualized with text to (hopefully)create a thought-provoking experience. In 2010, I met Jason Mraz at a benefit for The Trevor

Project, where I was auctioning off a puzzle I made for Anthropologie, and he was performing. He had just seen a facimile painting in London based on a painting I had done for for Stella McCartney’s 2009 runway show, YES. I became a big fan, we became friends and he now holds the largest single collection of my work.

In 2011, I made a piece for my exhibit It’s Not About You, entitled Your Title Here, which was an edition of 3 with two artist’s proofs. When the collector bought the piece, I collaborated with them to “complete” it in the manner of our collaborative choosing. Jason bought Your Title Here, and in 2012 I met up for part of his European tour with in Berlin, Amsterdam & London, and returned to New York with him, where he played Madison Square Garden. I had met his videographer on the tour and suggested that he documentus creating the piece together with overhead time-lapse photography. Jason loved the idea.

In a moment of synchronicity, we set up in Jason’s record label offices at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, a building where I had just happened to have worked for three years as the art director of Us Weekly, from 2002 to 2005, when I left that job to become a full-time artist. A full-circle moment.

I had the idea to exhibit the finished piece, an unfinished version, as wellas the video of us creating it.Building Community/ Construccion de Comunidad was the first show in my new gallery and my collaboration partner, Andrea Pasos, and I used another artist’s proof of Your Title Here, reworked as Juntos/ Solos, which gave me this idea to exhibit See Worthy. I asked Jason and invited him to Merida. He was just finishing a Latin American tour, so the timing worked out.

I hope you like watching us make it (It’s only 5 minutes long.) It’s set to one of my favorite new songs of his, Disco Sun, and as I said to Jason, it’s not like we’re showing off. We’re just coloring like kids.
–Trey Speegle

TREY SPEEGLE

A framed map of the United States with the word "Southwest" spelled out at the bottom in colorful, patterned letters.

THIS TOUR OF the Latin Americas has been heart opening as well as an inspiring sojourn for the mind. A small detour from the show schedule landed me Mérida, Mexico, where I got to present a piece of art made with Trey Speegle (@speeglestudio) back in 2012. Trey is a whimsical and thoughtful visual artist who incorporates paint-by-number into the foundation of his pieces.

As a fan of the kitsch and accessible paint-by-number, I became an admirer of Trey’s work back in 2010 when I stumbled across a large painting of the word YES, created for Stella McCartney’s runway show and shop in London. I was so enamored with the piece I would occasionally trek back to the store window at night to hang out with the painting.

I eventually caught up with Trey in NYC and became a collector of his playful and optimistic artwork, which led to our collaboration on a large paint-by-number sea scape, which became See Worthy. While I primarily use sound as my medium, where Trey & I overlap is in text, or what I call positive articulation.

In 2012, I was experiencing success in new ways, which of course heightened my sense of feeling like an imposter. I was achieving high praises, but I wasn’t any happier because of it. Through it all I’d learn how happiness and peace are cultivated within. And I’d learn that by making art. Art that sings back to me messages I need to remember. The blank sea scape paint-by-number said to me, squint your eyes and bring your life into focus.

See your worth. Don’t just live your dream. LOVE IT.

See Worthy hung in my home for 14 years, and in my bedroom for the past 6, continuing to cheer me on through many challenges and transformations in life.

In January I shipped it to Galeria 25 where it is on display through April 18. The installation also includes a short film creating the piece with Trey in 2012. –Jason Mraz

JASON MRAZ