By Levi Wright
[email protected]
@leviwrite

“All of the things that you make are a kind of quest for immortality,” said the artist Keith Haring in a 1988 interview with the Columbia Art Review, before his life was cut short by AIDS. This Wednesday Walk It Out is hosting an event to celebrate the life and legacy of Keith Haring and raise awareness for those afflicted by the AIDS virus. Brittany Conyers, the public relations director for Walk It Out, said that Walk It Out aims to “create unity, acceptance, and understanding of the different cultures on the University of Iowa campus. It is a chance for our community to come together and celebrate the various cultural backgrounds and sexual identities in our multicultural fashion show.”
The group accomplishes this by creating an open and accepting environment where people can walk on a mini-runway. It is comprised of seven cultural groups the founders of Walk It Out felt were underrepresented, however the group is open to everyone.
“Anything someone can offer is a good thing and can help us come together to create something better,” Conyers said. “You don’t have to be from one of these specific cultures, or identify to be in it. That’s the whole point of the show.”
The reason Walk It Out chose Keith Haring for this year is because, Conyers said, he used his talents to raise awareness.

“He used his gifts and talents to make a statement and bring HIV/AIDS and wellness awareness to people’s conscious minds. This is what we aim to do as well through our fashion show,” Conyers said.
Haring first started his career as an artist by making subway drawings which he drew in chalk on the walls of the New York underground.
“I drew in the daytime which meant there were always people watching. There were always confrontations, whether it was with people that were interested in looking at it, or people that wanted to tell you, you shouldn’t be drawing there…” said Haring in a 1990 interview with *Arts Magazine*.
Keith Haring’s work wasn’t just popular in the United States, though, as he was also invited to paint on the Berlin wall, his mural was done to show the unity and peace Haring was trying to bring about, and it is this same unity and peace that Walk It Out is aiming to evoke.
In 1988 Haring was diagnosed with AIDS. He embraced the disease and worked towards creating an increased sense of awareness. In 1981, Haring even named one of his art pieces “Silence=Death”. It was a way to show how AIDS was depicted in the 1980’, showing the fear and oppression people with HIV and AIDS felt. Today, the Keith Haring Foundation, a group created by Keith Haring before his death in support of AIDS-related organizations, aims to continue his legacy in activism. In Iowa City, Walk It Out aims to also follow in these footsteps by forming a “partnership with the University of Iowa Hospitals and HIV/AIDS clinic to assist in finding the treatment of patients and raise HIV/AIDS awareness in the local Iowa City Community,” according to Conyers.

Walk It Out: For Keith Haring
When: Today til 2
Where: Iowa Memorial Union Hubbard Commons
Cost: Free