Keith Haring’s Hospital Mural

What the hell is a 700 foot long Keith Haring mural doing in Woodhull Hospital? Believe it or not, the city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation once set aside a percentage of funds to buy emerging art to be hung in hospitals. Saved up in the 1960s and 1970s, they began splurging on works and murals, including this piece made by Haring over three days in 1986.

I’ve had my own experience with Woodhull- it is a typical under-funded public hospital in the middle of where Bushwick and Bed-Stuy meet, which up until recently wasn’t such a great area. But that’s what makes this Haring piece even more special. Many private hospitals around the country boast incredible art collections, but Woodhull is one of the only public hospitals that has art works by modern masters- 700 individual works in total.

The enormous and colorful Haring mural was cleaned and restored in 2007. Apparently to this day, the hospital still offers services in exchange for artist work… could this be real?

Who: Keith Haring

What: several murals

Where: Woodhull Hospital, 760 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11206