INTENT & PURPOSE | The Salim Hylton Memorial Scholarship Fund

Salim Hylton was only twenty-seven years old, full of life, his talents, and a passion for the arts when he was randomly murdered by unknown assailants to whom he had done no harm. He was humorous, free-spirited, witty and creative in many artistic endeavors.   He was born and grew up in Washington, DC Salim graduated from Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Virginia Commonwealth University, where he earned a degree in visual and media arts.   The high regard for his work (which included a portrait of Duke Ellington) and the many awards he received served as an eloquent testimony to his talent and held the promise of his blossoming into an exceptional artist.   In spite of his youthfulness, he was associated with more achievements than many others several years his senior.

Salim attended middle school in Jamaica, from whence his parents came. He stated that it was there that he first became aware of his hunger for art, and that it was in that soil that his love of art first began to blossom. He then "took this emerging talent to a school internationally  known for its nurturing and molding of young, promising artists in a manner that is worthy of the person whose name it bears -- Duke Ellington, and that he had learned and achieved a lot by having gone there."

As a young man, Salim’s abilities as a sage/storyteller; his loyalty to friends, family, and his community; his deep awareness of the conditions that marginalized certain groups of adults and children, in particular; his demand for justice all merged to influence the images he created in his art. Through his art he encouraged and promoted opportunities for the youth of the Washington metropolitan area.

Salim’s life was dedicated to helping the youth, and preserving and developing art. He taught chemistry and physics to special education students at Potomac High School in Maryland and he worked with the Mayor's summer program teaching visual and dramatic arts to the youngsters and collaboratively working with other artists in creating murals in various areas of Washington, DC. While attending Duke Ellington, he created a video entitled "The Homeless of DC," in which he gave faces to and highlighted the stories of the many homeless men and women on Washington, DC's streets, compassionately portraying them as members of the human family, many of whom had fought our country's wars and nurtured our children. He was murdered two days before starting a new position teaching visual arts at the William E. Doar Public Chartered High School in Washington, DC. 

The Reason for the Scholarship Award

The Hylton Family decided to establish this scholarship to offer financial opportunities to students to help them further their artistic potential. Salim wanted to make a positive difference in the local and world community through his art work, and he had started that mission and touched many lives during his journey. Salim had a clear vision of the direction in which he wanted his art to go. One of his dreams was "to earn enough money to open up an art mall where people can buy art materials, obtain art lessons and even get some background knowledge about the business of art. At the mall information on the history of classical and modern art will be available to patrons and the mechanisms will be there to detect hidden talent and develop it."   Salim's ambition, therefore, was to create opportunities to assist talented youth in the development of their artistic potential. The establishment of the Salim Hylton Memorial Scholarship Fund is intended to honor Salim's life through his art and giving. This will be his legacy!

The Salim Hylton Memorial Scholarship Fund's Tax ID # is 27-2205086.