Vaseline’s ‘Mended Murals’ Initiative Restores Street Art to Underscore Importance of Skin Health

On Black History Month, Vaseline has unveiled its Mended Murals initiative, which aims to restore street art to underscore the importance of skin health. 

 

Per the brand, skin health care for people of color has long been an afterthought due to systemic racism and healthcare inequities, leading to worse outcomes and increased mortality rates for skin cancer.  

 

As part of Vaseline's continued efforts to achieve skin health equity, the brand is launching the multi-city initiative, which uses art restoration as a method to shed light on the importance of caring for skin of color with emphasis on the need for increased access to skin health resources for underrepresented communities.

The initiative – which follows the 2022 launch of SeeMySkin.com, a first-of-its-kind platform designed to search conditions on skin of color and connect patients with physicians who understand their skincare needs – was created to showcase that without proper care or resources, murals that were once a vibrant reflection of the culture and people in their communities can often fade over time. Through partnerships with artists of diverse backgrounds across the country, Vaseline is helping restore their murals and support local clinics in those cities that provide accessible health care in surrounding neighborhoods.

 

“Mended Murals is a continuation of Vaseline's long-standing commitment to enable 15 million people of color to access more equitable skin health care by 2025, said Kathleen Dunlop, CMO of Unilever Beauty and Wellbeing, North America. “We explored murals all over the country, contacting their original artists to bring our vision to life. Vaseline® is helping to restore local murals and support clinics that provide accessible health care to community members. Every mural restoration project helps encourage community members access to skin health resources.”

 

To date, Vaseline has committed to commissioning mural restorations with artists based in Baltimore, MD, Brooklyn, NY, and Hartford, CT. Select murals display a QR code driving community members to SeeMySkin.com, where they can access skin health care resources. Vaseline has also committed to donating a total of $250,000 across local charitable health clinics in each US city where murals are restored.

 

Vaseline is also inviting members of the public to submit a mural that's important to their community for a chance to have it restored by the original artist. With every mural restored, Vaseline will provide funds to support a local health clinic in said city.

To celebrate the work being done through Mended Murals and further raise awareness in the next community that will be supported through this initiative, Vaseline will show up in Austin, TX to partner with Black Future House. The multi-day event brings founders, creators, builders, connectors and disruptors to shape a better Black future.

 

As the exclusive skincare sponsor, Vaseline will be hosting a panel on Saturday, March 9 to discuss the importance of representation and skin health equity. The panel will be moderated by award-winning journalist and New York Times' bestselling author, Elaine Welteroth and feature Baltimore-based muralist Ernest Shaw Jr.; Austin-based board-certified dermatologist Dr. Adewole “Ade” Adamson; Unilever's Beauty & Wellbeing Senior R&D Director Tiffany Yizar; and Unilever's Head of North America Strategy and Chief of Staff for the Personal Care Division, Kevin Tolson.

Check out a clip below: