Graduation Banner Signed by Tupac - Baltimore School for the Arts, Class of 1988. Designed and created by Darrin Keith Bastfield for GE-OLOGY
This original graduation banner was designed and created in 1988 by artist Darrin Keith Bastfield for GE-OLOGY's Baltimore School for the Arts graduation celebration during Tupac Shakur’s time in Baltimore, shortly before his relocation to California and prior to his emergence as a public figure.
The banner functioned as a communal artifact within the BSA social and creative circle and was subsequently signed and marked by classmates and friends in attendance, including Tupac Shakur, who inscribed both his name and his early emcee moniker, MC New York. Additional inscriptions by members of the BSA community further reflect the close-knit environment that shaped this formative period.
The banner appears in contemporaneous archival photographs from the same event, directly linking the object to its original context and reinforcing its authenticity as a primary-source artifact from this moment in Tupac Shakur’s early life.
Key Details
• Graduation banner for the Baltimore School for the Arts, Class of 1988
• Original artwork designed and created by Darrin Keith Bastfield for GE-OLOGY's party
• Signed by Tupac Shakur (MC New York) and fellow BSA classmates
Collectibility
• Provenance: Designed and created by Darrin Keith Bastfield; preserved and presented from the collection of GE-OLOGY
• Rarity: Exceptional — early, informally signed artifacts from this period are extremely scarce
• Historic significance: A rare, first-hand object documenting the social and creative environment surrounding Tupac Shakur prior to his professional career
Pairs well with
Provenance
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