Behind every picture is a story. Robby Campbell and Jordan Melnick, creators of the independent culture blog, Beached Miami and the art project Sketchy Miami, wanted to prove just that by creating Sketchy Pink.
Sketchy Pink functions like Sketchy Miami, where anyone can be an artist or an artist’s subject. Campbell and Melnick, who teamed up with the creators of online resource and community Know Cancer, are inviting everyone in Miami to send a picture of themselves to their website, SketchyMiami.com, and create portraits of other people who have submitted pictures.
The goal is to have a portrait for every person in Miami.
The purpose of Sketchy Pink is to allow people to share their breast cancer experiences through the art of portraiture. The effort will culminate in a Sketchy Pink Party at the Betsey-South Beach Hotel on Sunday evening.
For Pink, people that have had any kind of experience with breast cancer can submit photos. Campbell and Melnick also encourage artists to incorporate the color pink into their portrait.
“One of our partners in Sketchy Miami, Josh Snyder, is a cancer survivor and started the project Know Cancer with another guy,” Campbell said. “[Jordan and I] wanted to know how we could help by using Sketchy Miami, and we thought of awareness. Sketchy Pink is a good way to show how it can mold to certain causes.”
Campbell and Melnick will display the pink portraits at the University of Miami’s Braman Family Breast Cancer Institute through the end of October.
The project aims to facilitate intimate and diverse exchanges between any two Miami residents. In the context of breast cancer, its initiative gives people a creative way to bond over an experience that is usually extremely personal.
“I think [Sketchy Pink] is really great. It’s always good to have a creative outlet and bring attention to breast cancer,” senior Kelsey Butler said. “The project gives a healthy way for people affected by it to release any feelings of negativity, stress or anxiety.”
For more information on Sketchy Miami, Sketchy Pink or the Sketchy Pink Party, visit SketchyMiami.com or send an email to sketchy@sketchymiami.com.
All proceeds from the Sketchy Pink Party will go to the institute. The party will include food, drinks and live music.