NEWS
This electrifying poster—centered on a striking voguing pose—was created for the 1989 Chicago Voguer’s Ball, a space rooted in the legacy of Black and Latino ballroom culture. Donated by @keithharingfoundation in 2025, it was newly added to the collection. The term “ball” originally comes from “ballroom,” a formal space for European-style social dancing. But by the 1970s, it had been radically reimagined by queer and trans communities of color—especially in cities like New York and Chicago—into something far more powerful: a space of self-made glamour, competition, kinship, and freedom. These underground “balls” became sanctuaries where self-expression, survival, and chosen family took center stage.
Ballroom is more than performance—it’s protest, affirmation, and joy. #Voguing , the movement at its core, is a language of precision, attitude, and storytelling that honors individuality while holding space for collective power.
Keith Haring created this poster in deep solidarity with the ballroom scene and the broader queer community during the height of the AIDS crisis. As a gay artist and activist, he knew art could be both celebration and resistance—and used his platform to uplift the creativity and resilience of those too often erased.
🌈Pride Month
Each June, Pride Month honors the ongoing fight for queer liberation, with roots in the 1969 Stonewall uprising—an act of resistance led by trans and queer people of color like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Stormé DeLarverie. Their courage helped ignite a global movement that continues to this day.
Haring’s legacy lives on in that same spirit of defiance, love, and visibility. His work was never separate from community—it was community.
This display is part of our commitment to celebrating the cultures and people that have always been at the heart of queer life.
