Back in 2014, when the Rainbow Honor Walk was dedicated in San Francisco, I had the great privilege of joining with a friend to unveil the plaque in honor of Keith Allen Haring, an incredible artist whom I have always admired.
Keith Haring's life was way too short. Today he would have turned 64. Hard to believe. Keith passed away from AIDS-related complications in 1990, but his legacy lives on not only through his art but through the work of the Keith Haring Foundation, which makes grants that support a wide array of not-for-profit organizations. He lived for only 31 years, but his art and social activism will live forever, because he was not afraid to be seen. He did not live his life in secret, but he boldly let the world see him, and in doing so let the world see his brilliant work. One of his creations became a logo for National Coming Out Day because he was truly a logo in the way he lived, and that should inspire us all to lead an uncloseted life.
The next time I am in the middle of Castro Street in San Francisco (between 18th and 19th Streets) and see Keith Haring looking up at me, I'm going to meditate on his own words: "Art will never leave me and never should. So as I go into the next part of the trip I hope it will be more creative and more work involved and less talk and more doing, seeing, learning, being, loving, feeling, maybe less feeling, and just work my ass off, ’cause that, my friend, is where it’s at!"
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