New Iowa Exhibit Reveals ‘Hidden’ Mural by Artist Keith Haring

A masterpiece was hiding in plain sight at Iowa City’s Horn Elementary, and the only person standing between this work and the wrecking ball was a savvy school administrator.

Thanks to Principal Kristin Meyer Cannon (97BA, 05MA), a vibrant mural that renowned contemporary American artist Keith Haring painted on the Horn library wall with a group of students in 1989 has found a temporary home in the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art.

Cannon helped save the mural, A Book Full of Fun, from potential construction damage during her school’s current building renovation. However, getting this piece, which measures 7 feet by 10 feet, from point A to point B proved no easy feat. It took months of strategizing—along with some sawing and heavy lifting that two visiting art conservators oversaw—to safely ensconce this 4,000-pound wall panel at the Stanley. The museum will publicly debut the work beginning May 4, as part of its To My Friends at Horn: Keith Haring and Iowa City exhibition, which showcases the mural and other works on loan from the Keith Haring Foundation.

“He showed me art wasn’t something you see in museums or read about in books, but something you create and share.” —Michelle Altmaier

PHOTO: RODNEY WHITE VIA THE KEITH HARING FOUNDATION Students look on as artist Keith Haring creates the mural in 1989 at Horn Elementary in Iowa City.

“When I first got the call, I was skeptical,” says Lauren Lessing, director of the UI Stanley Museum of Art. “People often think they have works by famous artists, but it’s not always the case. I was stunned when Kristin produced photo albums bulging with pictures of Haring interacting with students and teachers.”

Former Horn teacher Colleen Ernst, whose nickname was “Dr. Art,” was the catalyst for this improbable connection between a New York pop-culture graffiti artist and Iowa elementary students. She introduced her pupils to Haring’s work and launched a pen pal exchange with him that culminated in his three-day art residency at Horn in 1984.

“He opened a window to a new world of creativity and imagination,” says Michelle Altmaier (94BA), who was a Horn sixth grader at the time and collaborated with Haring and fellow students on a drawing they made using crayons and large paper. “He showed me art wasn’t something you see in museums or read about in books, but something you create and share.”

PHOTO: JASON SMITH Ron Harvey, an art conservator with Tuckerbrook Conservation, assists with the installation of Keith Haring's A Book Full of Fun earlier this spring at the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art.

Haring grew up in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, and attended New York’s School of Visual Arts. He rose to global fame in the 1980s for his gritty street art, which promoted racial and sexual tolerance—and tackled thorny issues such as nuclear disarmament, the AIDS epidemic, apartheid states, and environmental devastation.

The prolific artist returned to Iowa City for one day, in 1989, to paint his Horn mural. The piece is a whimsical homage to the literary life of the mind, depicting an open book with a thought bubble abuzz with colorful characters, letters, and numbers.

Just a year later, Haring died, at the age of 31, from complications of AIDS. However, his works still hang in major museums and art collections around the world, and his legacy endures. “He taught us that art is a powerful tool for self-expression and communication—and I’ve carried that lesson with me all my life,” says Altmaier.