Skin health care for people of colour hasn’t been a priority in the US, partly due to systemic racism and partly to healthcare inequities. Adverse outcomes include include increased mortality rates for skin cancer.

Vaseline and VML New York are bringing skin health care to the fore with an initiative called Mended Murals. The partners are restoring murals across US cities, through partnerships with artists of diverse backgrounds, as a metaphor for skin health care for skin of colour and to underline the need for increased access to skin health resources for underrepresented communities. The Mended Murals initiative highlights that without proper care or resources, murals that were once a vibrant reflection of the culture and people in their communities can fade over time.

Mended Murals sits within Vaseline’s SeeMySkin.com, the platform designed to search conditions on skin of colour and connect patients with physicians who understand their skincare needs.

Vaseline has already committed to commissioning mural restorations with artists based in Baltimore, Maryland; Brooklyn, New York; and Hartford, Connecticut. 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 and is encouraging people 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 that person’s city.