As a child, Kaylee Schulte could barely contain her excitement when an exhibit of Claude Monet’s paintings came to the gallery near her home outside Jackson, Mississippi. Schulte, then no older than 6, said a security guard doubled over laughing at the sight of a child barely out of preschool exclaiming, “Finally, real art!” Now a senior at South Salem High School, Schulte decided to focus her senior project on giving more Salem kids a chance to learn about art at school. Schulte spent nearly a year organizing and running a booth at the Salem Art Fair, selling donated works by students and local artists to raise money for the Salem Art Association’s programs to bring artists to local elementary schools. Her final take was over $2,500. “My mom warned me beforehand, don’t expect to make more than 500,” she said, smiling. Matthew Boulay, executive director of the Salem Art Association, called her efforts “amazing.” “She ran it like a professional artist runs their booth and I think visitors were sort of captivated by her and her story,” he said. The project fulfills her requirement for an International Baccalaureate diploma, a rigorous high school program where students complete college-level coursework and have to complete a creativity, activity and service project with real-world impact. Schulte’s family moved to Salem when she was in elementary school, and she attended the private Abiqua Academy through middle school. There, art class was part of the curriculum.  “T​hat was the reason I liked school,” she said. In Salem’s public elementary schools, it isn’t. While some teachers incorporate art lessons into class, there are no art teachers in district elementary schools, and no time set aside for visual arts in school schedules. The Salem Art Association tries to fill in some of the gaps through its Artists in the Schools program, which hires professional artists to come teach lessons in elementary schools, as well as summer camps  Schulte said the lack of access to art locally is apparent in high school, where students can take art as an elective class. “You can tell the difference between the kids that went to a school with the elementary art class and the ones from other schools where they haven’t had that,” she said. Schulte reached out to the Salem Art Association about selling art to support their arts education programs. They offered her a free booth at the art fair, held Sept. 13-15. She then solicited art donations from students at South, Sprague High School, Leslie Middle School and Abiqua.  She staffed the booth all weekend with some help from her parents and a few classmates. “That was kind of terrifying, because I’m a little shy, so having to go and actually sit in the booth and get people’s attention to have people come look at it and explain what everything was was scary,” she said. Her teacher overseeing the projects, Shane Britton, said Schulte stood out for the amount of work and passion she brought to the effort. “She’s very engaged in the project and very committed,” he said. The money Schulte raised will pay for about five scholarships to summer camp programs, or four classes of Artists in Schools, Boulay said. “We’re very grateful,” he said. Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post South senior raises thousands to support arts education appeared first on Salem Reporter.