With National Breast Cancer Awareness Month coming up in October, we wanted to ignite a meaningful initiative to raise money for Breast Cancer in a local community…and that’s exactly what we’ve done! We proudly introduce to you the “Sketchy Pink” initiative! A partnership between Know Cancer and Sketchy Miami that will use caricature drawings to pay homage to local Miami breast cancer fighters and raise money for University of Miami’s, Braman Family Breast Cancer Institute.

Sketchy Miami

Sketchy Miami is an online art project that aims to connect Miami artists and the general public through portraiture. It’s a simple process: people submit photos of themselves through sketchymiami.com; artists voluntarily create portraits based on the photos; they post the portraits (which they call “Sketchys”) on the site. Only in September it’s all about pink power! Read more about the noise Sketchy is making in Miami (Miami New Times, Miami Herald, WLRN, Flavorpill, Sun Sentinel, Thrillist).

Sketchy Pink

You may be wondering why we are launching the “Sketchy Pink” initiative in September, a month before National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The reason is that we are going to display these Pink Sketchys at U.M.’s Breast Cancer Center throughout October, so the patients can see that they are not alone in their fight. We will also be printing a collectible set of postcards based on the “Sketchy Pink” series that will be for sale throughout October, as well as throwing a local Miami fundraiser at the beginning of the month. Proceeds from the postcard and event will go to the Breast Cancer Institute to support breast cancer research.

How you can get involved (…and you should)

1. Submit a photograph of yourself on sketchymiami.com, along with your name and a brief explanation of how you “know” breast cancer. Keep in mind that you don’t have to be a breast cancer patient or survivor to know the disease. It may be that you have a friend or family member or even acquaintance that has or had breast cancer. Whether you know the disease directly or indirectly, chances are breast cancer has affected your life. We want you to tell us how.

2. Miami artists then create portraits based on the submitted photographs. Artists can work in any medium they choose and do as many Sketchys as they choose.

3. As they are completed, the Sketchys created through the Sketchy Pink Initiative will appear on the Sketchy Miami homepage. They will include a link to their photographs and to the artist’s personal page. They will also sport a pretty pink ribbon, the iconic emblem of the fight against breast cancer, to distinguish them from non-Pink Sketchys.

That, in a nutshell, is the “Sketchy Pink” program. Please get involved by submitting a photo and/or a Sketchy! You can also help by spreading the word to all of your friends, both online and in person. Breast Cancer affects so many people, and it won’t go away until we take it on face first!

*Make sure to stay tuned to Know Cancer and Sketchy Miami for more details over the coming weeks…