A dedication ceremony for a Pennsylvania historical marker commemorating iconic pop artist and Kutztown native Keith Haring is set for October.
The Kutztown Area Historical Society said the ceremony will be Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. at the society, 212 S. Whiteoak St., which is near Haring’s childhood home.
After the ceremony, the society will host a reception in the 1892 Public School Building, the society’s museum, that will feature a special temporary exhibition of art, books and artifacts reflecting Haring’s life. The exhibit will include original chalk drawings Haring drew for the society in November 1982, according to the society’s website.
Haring was raised in Kutztown in two residences near the 1892 Public School Building, where he attended junior high school, the society said.
Haring graduated from Kutztown High School in 1976 and spent several semesters at the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh before moving to New York City in 1978. He enrolled in courses at the School of Visual Art and became part of the art, music and culture scene centered in the East Village, the society said.
He experimented in various media and performance art before beginning his signature chalk drawings on expired advertising panels in the city’s subway system in 1980. Within several years, the society said, he received international exposure, and his work was found in art museums and galleries as well as magazine covers, MTV and apparel.
Haring painted dozens of murals in New York, Japan and Europe, including on the Berlin Wall in 1986.
He was also an activist, engaged in issues such as the AIDS epidemic and public health, racism, homophobia and environmentalism. As an advocate for the LGBTQ community, he established the Keith Haring Foundation in 1989 to provide funding and imagery to AIDS organizations and children’s programs and to expand the audience for Haring’s work through exhibitions, publications and the licensing of his images.
Haring gifted the “Untitled (Figure Balancing on Dog)” to Kutztown Park in the early 1990s, where the sculpture remains today. More of his art can be found on a floor mural in the New Arts Program building on Main Street.
Haring died at the age of 31 on Feb.16, 1990, of AIDS-related complications.
His work is also displayed at the Keith Haring Fitness Court on the Kutztown University campus at Baldy Street and Normal Avenue. The 32-foot-by-35-foot outdoor space, which was dedicated in October 2022, has 30 pieces of body-weight fitness equipment.
Haring’s marker was among 36 the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission approved in December 2022.
Source: Berkshire mont
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