Kutztown is a screenprint by Keith Haring from 1978. The work beckons back to Haring’s childhood. The artist was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, and raised nearby in Kutztown. He attended Kutztown Junior High, which was located right next to his childhood home. The image shows a sand dollar, and two figures, one wearing a large cowboy or sheriff’s hat.

Writing about his hometown, Haring remarked that “Kutztown has its good points. Excessive amounts of love and sanity. Precise order. Fresh air. A different background noise… still a hum but a softer, more natural buzz. Time to contemplate, time to reflect and dream” (from a 1979 journal entry). It was in this small town where Haring became inspired by cartoons such as Walt Disney, and his father’s own drawings. After graduating high school, Haring left Kutztown to study commercial art in Pittsburgh. He soon dropped out, and moved to New York City where he would enroll in the School of Visual Arts. It was there that he cultivated relationships with artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, and quickly integrated himself into the 1970s underground art scene.