HARING'S LEGACY

Lives On In Berks

BY JON FASSNACHT

Midway through installing his exhibition at Kutztown’s New Arts Program in 1987, Keith Haring noticed something was missing. The show was a homecoming for the renowned artist, born in Reading and raised in Kutztown, who achieved fame in New York City during the decade with his graffiti-inspired pop art. Things were certainly looking up for Haring, but at that moment he was looking down.

“He came to me and said that he felt he had to do something with the floor,” remembers James F.L. Carroll, New Arts Program’s founder and director. “And I said to go ahead and do it. After we talked, he went to Ace Hardware and picked up a quart of black latex paint, and he finished it in about an hour and a half.”

The exhibit is long gone, but the floor mural remains. A similar thing can be said about Haring:

Though he tragically passed away in 1990 at the young age of 31 due to AIDS complications, his influence endures with new generations of fans continuing to discover his work.

And demand for Haring pieces shows no sign of easing. In late

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2022, a small representation of the iconic Radiant Baby that Haring painted on the wall of his childhood home sold at auction for nearly $145,000.

“I can’t explain that,” Carroll says. “They’re just hungry for it, that’s all.”