Writing a letter to a celebrity is often like throwing dust in the wind, but you never know when it might grow into something significant. More than 30 years ago, elementary art teacher Colleen Ernst wrote to artist Keith Haring and told him how her students at Ernest Horn Elementary School in Iowa City, Iowa, were fascinated with his work. Haring responded, and began a correspondence with Ernst and her students. Haring then visited the school in 1984, but it wouldn't be his last visit. In 1989, Haring went to see Ernst's art students again, this time collaborating with them on the design of a mural, which he painted on a library wall at the school. Haring died nine months later.
The mural stayed up and became an iconic part of the school. Eventually a renovation was necessary, but the mural had to be saved. It was painted on plaster atop wooden panels that were bolted to the wall. To preserve the art, the entire cinder block wall was removed in one piece. Then the blocks were removed one by one and the painting was taken to the University of Iowa’s Stanley Museum of Art. The mural has gone on display at a new exhibition at the museum running through January. Read the story of Keith Haring and his relationship with elementary art students in Iowa at Smithsonian.