Artist Beau Bradbury graffitied a mural of an old-school Sebastian the Ibis on the side of the Geneva Hotel entitled “You Don’t Scare Us Irma” in preparation for the powerful hurricane and quickly gained popularity because of it.
Now, Bradbury is ready to take his art and passion for the community to the next level.
In the past weeks, he has been hanging up free paintings around the University of Miami campus, all including his now-iconic take on Sebastian. The art was free, he said, for anyone to take down and keep as a reminder of Miami’s strength.
Bradbury has a habit of giving away art for free. He said he used to draw on mattresses and leave messages on paintings in the subway after being arrested in New York City for graffiti.
“I wanted to give a gift to somebody who would appreciate it,” he said.
His shoutout to the University of Miami resulted in an artistic collaboration between Bradbury and UM: he said he is working with the university to put on a large benefit in February during Greek Week to help those affected by recent natural disasters.
Bradbury said he will donate some of his art and he is looking for other Miami artists to be part of the event, not only to help those devastated, but to support the art community in Miami.
“We want to draw a crowd as large as we possibly can,” he said. “We want to have shirts, food trucks, and we want to sell art that students are able to afford and have for the rest of their life.”
Follow Beau on twitter: @_______beau