Students aged 12 to18 from across the U.S. Midwest travel to Shell Lake in scenic northwestern Wisconsin to hone their rock star skills. The Shell Lake Arts Center states, “Every student deserves a master teacher.” When the organization approached the Les Paul Foundation, we could see it was a good match.

Funds were tight in Les’ childhood home. At the heart of the Les Paul Foundation is Les’ commitment to help young musicians. Providing funds for scholarships for the Guitar & Bass Camp and the Rock Band Camp at Shell Lake Arts Center in Les’ home state is a natural.

Shelby Jones in a one-on-one music lesson.

At the camp, students spend an entire week working one-on-one with professional rock band musicians. Camps include master classes, band rehearsal, technical classes and performances.

Lucas Bonanno giving it his all.

Since 1968 Shell Lake Arts Center has been offering youth and adult residential camps for eight weeks in summer plus weekend and day-long workshops throughout the year.

“We are so excited and honored to receive funding from the Les Paul Foundation to help support our scholarship program. Each year, we award over $18,000 in scholarships to young musicians who cannot afford to come to our camps. Our scholarship program is very important to us because we believe that arts should be accessible to all and everyone deserves a master teacher!”

Tara Burns, Executive Director, Shell Lake Arts Center

We like Shell Lake Arts Center’s guitar-playing gorilla.