Faced with the rising cost of living, many students at the prestigious Ecole du Louvre art history school in Paris are finding themselves struggling financially. Its director has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help students focus on their studies rather than worry about paying their rent.
Tourists flocking to see the treasures inside the Louvre museum may find it hard to imagine that behind the grand sandstone façade in the heart of Paris, a third of its 1,800 students are struggling to make ends meet.
“When we see how magnificent the Louvre is, we can’t begin to imagine that students studying at its school would have any kind of difficulty,” says Claire Barbillon, director of the school since 2017.
Established in 1882, by prominent politician Jules Ferry, the Ecole du Louvre is a school dedicated to studies in art history, archaeology and museum management.
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As well as educating students who hope to forge a career in art history, the school offers summer courses, conferences and online content that is available to the general public.
Although the annual fees for full-time students are minimal, thanks to state support, those attending still need to pay for accommodation and living expenses, as well as supplies for their courses.
Students using food banks
Many of the students come from outside Paris, without family or friends living nearby. Student accommodation fills up quickly and shared accommodation is not always a practical solution – or even possible to find.
Listening to their feedback over the years, Barbillon noticed a worrying pattern emerging. Students were having to sacrifice time they would have spent studying to work instead, to pay their bills.
Others were switching off their heating, while some were scrounging around markets to find unsold fruit and vegetables or even using food banks.
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“Young people’s passion for the arts must be taken into consideration. Obviously, their skills count, but not their social background,” Barbillon told RFI.
She explained that for the last 20 years, the school's partnership with the Culture and Diversity Foundation has made courses more accessible to students from lower-income families.
But despite passing the arduous entrance exam – there are 300 places for 1,500 candidates – some are unable to fulfil their potential, due to the financial strain of attending the school.
While wealthy donors and philanthropists have contributed to funding over the years, Barbillon saw a need to establish a long-term system to help students financially.
She became the president of the school’s endowment fund in 2020 and since then some 300 students have been given assistance. But in 2024, only 29 scholarships for living expenses were awarded, out of 144 applications.
For students who are coming straight from school, l'école du Louvre is "extremely demanding," she said. "It’s a big step to take. There are new ways of working, the need for autonomy and a huge personal investment.”
Crowdfunding campaign
To speed up the process of organising emergency funds to help students pay their bills, Barbillon and her team have launched a clever crowdfunding campaign on the French platform Ulule.
It depicts students in the style of neglected portraits, with cracked oil paint and holes in the canvas – with the slogan: “Because the living conditions of our students need to be restored."
For Barbillon, it’s a way of reaching out to a much wider donor base – donation options start from just €10. In exchange, donors are offered a guided visit or the chance to attend a special conference.
With people now familiar with the crowdfunding concept and donations made online, the campaign is aimed at potential donors around the world.
With a target of €50,000, Barbillon says the school will invest the money to generate interest, thus establishing a sustainable form of revenue for students.
'They must be allowed to follow their dreams'
The Ecole du Louvre has an impressive roster of alumni – including many of Paris’s museum directors, such as the Louvre's own director Laurence des Cars, says Barbillon.
Fashion designers Hedi Slimane, Christian Lacroix and Agnès B also studied at the school, as did filmmaker Agnès Varda and her daughter Rosalie.
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Around 15 percent of students come from overseas. A famous example is Jackie Kennedy-Onassis who came over from the US in 1949 to study painting at the school.
Barbillon says she hopes former students and their families, art lovers and professionals alike will see making a donation as protecting France’s cultural heritage, and supporting the next generation.
“Every young person who wants to become a professional must be able to follow their dreams," said Barbillon. “That’s why, once they’ve passed the entrance exam, I want them all to have the same opportunity for success."
