 Local familiarity with Mexican cultural history led to artworks which took on distinctive Mexican themes and characters and which paid tribute to the subtleties of the Mexican culture - from Lucha Libre and Mexico's love of free-wrestling to “Día de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead), which is a Mexican national holiday to celebrate, pray for, and to honor departed loved ones.Such artworks include Mays' "The Dead Dance", which conveyed the Mexican dead celebrating in skeletal forms.His “Last Train to Chihuahua”, which depicts a revolution-era train arriving at a station, received wide coverage in local newspapers, and “The Birth of The Mestizo”, combine many elements of pre-Hispanic Mexican Aztec culture's encounter with the Conquistadores, and the resulting post-Hispanic Mexico - where the eagle perched on cactus devoured the snake, which today, remains a part of the Coat of arms of Mexico

On his return from Mexico Ealy Mays was accepted for a residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, which he still regards as a significant period in his life.