ABOUT CITYKIDS
GIVING A GENERATION A VOICE
Founded in New York City in 1985 by Laurie Meadoff, The CityKids Foundation was built on a simple but powerful belief: young people deserve a place to be heard.
CityKids brought together young people from different neighborhoods, backgrounds, and experiences, using dialogue, leadership, activism, and the arts to help them discover the power of their individual and collective voices.
Just one year after its founding, that mission took monumental form.
In 1986, CityKids joined Keith Haring to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. Over the course of the project, 1,000 young people from across New York City's five boroughs gathered around Haring's towering outline of Lady Liberty and filled it with their own words, drawings, ideas, and personal definitions of freedom.
The result was more than a collaboration between an artist and a group of young people. CityKids Speak on Liberty became a platform for an entire generation to speak.
Nearly four decades later, the work remains inseparable from the mission that created it: give young people a voice, create the space for them to use it, and make sure the world listens.
KEITH HARING X CITYKIDS
A COLLABORATION LIKE NO OTHER
For six weeks in the summer of 1986, Keith Haring worked side by side with 1,000 young people from CityKids to create Speak On Liberty.
Every figure, every line, every symbol was inspired by the voices, ideas and experiences of youth.
The result is a bold, collective statement about freedom, community and the power of young people to shape the world.
SHOP THE RELEASE
From a distance, CityKids Speak on Liberty is unmistakably Keith Haring. Up close, it becomes something much more.
Within Haring’s bold outline of the Statue of Liberty are the words, drawings, hopes, and ideas of 1,000 young people from across New York City’s five boroughs, each sharing what freedom and liberty meant to them in 1986.
Explore the full 90-foot work and discover the individual voices that transformed a monumental drawing into a collective expression of liberty.
EVERY PRINT
SUPPORTS CITYKIDS
Proceeds from this release support CityKids youth programs that create safe space in an unsafe world and help young people find their voice, lead with purpose, and drive change
SAFESPACE /
BRAVESPACE
Giving young people safe space to be themselves and grow.
YOUTH-TO-YOUTH COMMUNICATION
Building communication skills and connections that empower.
LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
Equipping youth to lead and create impact in their communities.
ARTIVISIM / COMMUNITY
Using art and creativity to spark dialogue and inspire social-change