Simon Castets is stepping into one of contemporary art's most consequential roles. Starting January 12, the French American curator becomes executive director of the Keith Haring Foundation, taking the helm of an organization that has quietly become one of the art world's most effective bridges between aesthetic practice and social change.
Castets arrives with deep institutional experience—three years at Luma Arles building partnerships with Google and the Getty Foundation, and over a decade running the Swiss Institute in New York, where he became known for championing emerging artists before they found wider recognition. But the Haring Foundation is different. It's not just a museum or a curatorial platform. It's a machine for distributing resources to causes Haring himself cared about.
Last year alone, the foundation deployed $7.7 million in grants. That included $1 million to the Studio Museum in Harlem's new building and $3 million to Bard College's Center for Curatorial Studies for its Keith Haring Wing. But the real work happens in smaller amounts—grants flowing to dozens of organizations serving at-risk youth, supporting HIV/AIDS research and care, funding education initiatives. Organizations like Planned Parenthood, GMHC, and Callen-Lorde have relied on this support for years.
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Start Your News DetoxWhat Castets understands—and what he articulated clearly in his appointment—is that Haring's art and Haring's activism were never separate things. "Keith had such a drive, despite his short career, to make a difference and to stand up for his ideals," Castets said. "Art and activism were always integrated in his understanding of art." That integration is the foundation's DNA. It's why the organization can fund both major museum exhibitions and grassroots charities working with vulnerable communities.
The next few years will test that commitment. Major exhibitions are in the pipeline—shows at the Brant Foundation and Crystal Bridges Museum in 2023, with a significant slate planned for 2027 through 2029, culminating in the foundation's 40th anniversary. But Castets is also inheriting a foundation operating in a genuinely hostile moment. Attacks on LGBTQIA+ organizations and institutions have intensified. Political pressure on museums is real. The cultural landscape has shifted.
Yet Castets seems clear-eyed about what's required. "The work is never done," he said, "and the Haring Foundation, and others like it in the field, continue to do extremely important work in a sometimes very hostile political climate."
What drew Castets to the role, he explained, was Haring's radical belief that art belonged to everyone. "Haring famously believed that art is for everybody, and the artist loved when he met fans who had made T-shirts or accessories using his art. That lack of preciousness opens doors to other opportunities to spread understanding of Haring's art and his ideals." That's the opposite of how many foundations operate—gatekeeping, professionalizing, restricting access. The Haring Foundation does the reverse.
The foundation's next chapter will likely test whether that democratic vision can hold during a period of cultural retrenchment. Castets has the curatorial chops and the institutional experience to navigate it. Whether the moment allows the foundation's dual mission to flourish will depend on factors well beyond any director's control.
