Keith Allen Haring was born to Joan and Allen Haring on May 4, 1958. He grew up in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, a Dutch farming community, the oldest of four siblings. His artistic leanings were evident from a very early age. He had dreams of being a cartoonist and illustrator as a kid which derived from his father who was good at drawing cartoon things.
             Art continued to be a central interest throughout Keith's experimental and rather rebellious adolescence. He was often in trouble with his teachers due to the fact that all he ever thought about was art. Through books and museum visits he began to develop an awareness of modern art. Keith saw his first Warhols on a church visit to the Hirshhorn in Washington, D.C. This is where the passion began to take form. Keith began to get more involved with art and decided on making a future out of it. After high school, Keith enrolled in the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh.
             In 1976, Keith hitchhiked cross-country, stopping along the way to look at other art programs, gaining influence and ideas along the way. His style of art can be seen as a mix of many different artistic styles. Keith gained a majority of his influence from graffiti artists like the Fabulous 5ive, the only group of artists to paint all ten cars of a train. Though it wasn't only the art on the outside of the trains that caught Keith's attention, it was also the calligraphy, or signatures on the inside of the train that Keith gained most of his influence from. Keith believed the signatures on the train beard the likeness of Chinese calligraphy which was similar to the drawings he was beginning to do. When he returned to Pittsburgh later that year, he sat in on classes at the University of Pittsburgh, and eventually became involved with the Pittsburgh Arts and Crafts Center, where he had his first important show.
             Elements that would become central to Keith's style were beginning to emerge...