A Paris Auction Helps Bring Art to Children

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“We’re counting on you and your raised hands to bid for the street art selected by the M.B.A. students and go home victorious!” said Arnaud Oliveux, the auctioneer and specialist in urban art at the French auction house Artcurial.

Mr. Oliveux, 43, strode theatrically across the stage, hammer in hand, at the Théâtre de la Ville-Espace Pierre Cardin in the Eighth Arrondissement and officially opened the second edition of the charity auction Street for Kids.

The event is organized by 33 students pursuing master’s degrees in art management, with a focus on the international art market, at the Icart School of Arts.

Over the past six months, as their final project, the fifth-year students planned their first public auction. They persuaded renowned street artists and galleries to donate pieces; they drafted the communication strategy; they designed and built the exhibition space.

More than 250 people gathered in the cultural center on March 19 to watch as 65 lots from 55 artists, including Shepard Fairey, Banksy and CLET, were auctioned, with bids starting at 500 euros (about $620).

Julien Garcia-Toudic, 22, was among the students charged with collecting the donated street art. “It can be complicated to ask artists to donate work,” he said. “But as soon as I explained that it was for charity and it would be financing children’s access to art, they were immediately supportive of the cause.”

Their goal was to raise money for the Musée en Herbe (Budding Museum). Tucked in the First Arrondissement, a stone’s throw from the Louvre, the Musée en Herbe’s mission is to bring art and culture to children and those typically excluded from the art world.

Founded more than 40 years ago, the 6,400-square-foot space provides exhibit-related activities for those “between the ages of 3 and 103.”

“We’re a little alien in the world of art,” said Sylvie Girardet, the museum’s director. She was a wide-eyed graduate in art history and archaeology when she created the museum with two friends. At the time, she had been shocked to learn that the majority of the French population did not visit museums (In 2014, 61 percent had not been to a museum once in that year, according to one report).

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