Institutions | The Whitney Museum of American Art

Keith Haring was interested in how signs are used in many different cultures, from Egyptian hieroglyphics to contemporary advertising on the city streets. He often signed his artwork with a "radiant baby" sign instead of his name. This lesson seeks to explore the signs around us, and to create our own.

Sign Language 2 picks up where Sign Language 1 leaves off, helping students to develop their symbol three-dimensionally.

Students explore signs and vocabulary linked to the work of Keith Haring.

To explore students' perceptions of movement and how it can be expressed in images.
Make a visual diary of how you move throughout the day.

Ask your students to make a collaborative mural drawing to music, using their invented sign language, music, using their invented sign language, music logos, imagination, and their responses to the music.

Ask your students to make a collaborative mural drawing to music, using their invented sign language, their imagination, and their responses to the music.

This program was designed to be a take-home activity for children in conjunction with the exhibition of Keith Haring's work at the Whitney Museum in New York City.

By maintaining a framework to lead a discussion, this outline will help make looking at, talking about, and responding to art less intimidating.