30 years on, Melbourne’s Keith Haring mural is given a new life
Thirty years ago, a New York artist left an artwork on one wall of a Melbourne School that is now modern art treasure. But for former students of the school, the artist left a lasting impression that goes far beyond the yellow, green and red paint. The artwork has now been given a new lease of life through careful restoration work.
On March 6 2014 – exactly 30 years to the day of the original painting, Victoria’s Arts Minister Heidi Victoria, unveiled the restoration of a priceless mural adorning the wall of what is now the new home to Circus OZ.In 1984 the building was Collingwood’s Technical School and Keith Haring was young New York artist who was on a rapid rise to fame and fortune. The students, all boys from one of Victoria’s roughest areas, pitched in and helped out, oblivious to Haring’s notoriety, his sexuality or his HIV positive status.Keith Haring died of AIDS in February 1990 aged 31. There are 31 murals of Haring’s that survive today.