Journalism explains the world. Art makes people feel. In melding the two, our goal is to refocus global attention offshore and to stoke urgency and curiosity about this often-overlooked domain.

Painters from around the globe have come together to render the worry and wonder of what is happening at sea. A vast realm of astounding beauty, the oceans are also a dystopian frontier. They are home to dark inhumanities and dire industrial activities, where everything from murder and slavery to dumping and drilling routinely go unchecked.

Not unlike a literacy campaign, this project uses public art to raise cultural awareness and to offer fluency about the watery two thirds of the planet. The oceans supply 50 percent of the air we breathe. They are a workplace to more than 50 million people. And yet, the journalism about this sprawling and vital place is a rarity.

In their own aesthetic, through imagery that is at once captivating and critical, muralists in dozens of cities internationally have leveraged their talents to amplify the stories we report. Their paintings are meant as an onramp into a set of issues that need attention. To learn more about these environmental and human rights concerns at sea, please visit: The Outlaw Ocean Project.