People peruse art work at the first Gas Money Picture Show in 2024 at Joe’s Flat Iron Cafe in Skowhegan. Photo courtesy of Ester Franklin

SKOWHEGAN — Ester Franklin grew up entirely off the grid in Brighton Plantation.

No electricity, no TV. But her uncle, a film developer in Buffalo, New York, would mail her prints of photos from around the globe: rock stars, athletes, the seven wonders of the world.

“That was the seeds of wanderlust for me,” Franklin said in a recent interview.

Ester Franklin, shown in this undated photo, helps organize the Gas Money Picture Show to support the travel plans of a fellow graduate of Athens Community School. Photo courtesy of Ester Franklin

Franklin, 50, who works as a mental health counselor, went on from rural Brighton to live around the world, including stints in Germany, Japan and South Korea. She moved back to Skowhegan a few years ago.

Franklin’s experience traveling the world has led her to try to raise a little bit of “gas money” for a fellow graduate of her elementary school alma mater, the Athens Community School, to go on a dream trip.

Now in its second year, that effort, dubbed the Gas Money Picture Show, is scheduled for 1-4 p.m. on Saturday at Joe’s Flat Iron Café at 65 Water St. in Skowhegan.

Franklin, with the help of former Athens teacher Tammy Frith-Schultz and her daughter Kassie Dwyer, has taken donations of several works from local artists — paintings, prints, jewelry and more — that will be available Saturday afternoon.

“Anyone can go and take any piece they want,” Franklin said. “And it’s donation only. There’s no price on anything.”

The goal of the show is two-fold, Franklin said: Making art, which can be pricey, accessible to the general public, and raising the money for someone to travel.

There will be cookies, too, and music.

Last year, the show raised $1,000. This year, Franklin is aiming for $2,000 to give to an Athens grad.

An application for the award is circulating in the community, Franklin said. It has basic questions, mostly about what the student plans to do with the money and why.

The awardee of last year’s gas money, Jersey Flanders, declined to be interviewed. Franklin said she heard Flanders has not yet spent the money and is planning to go to a truck meet in New York later this year.

As she did last year, Franklin plans to present the money to the lucky traveler this spring at the Athens Community School graduation, when she will also give a speech about the importance of travel.

Franklin said she does not care where the person decides to go or what they do. What is important, she said, is that the person has an open mind.

“I just want people to step outside and be curious,” Franklin said. “I think that travel is very important because it gives a sense of perspective beyond our own. It can inspire us, just knowing that other things exist, and helps us to ask questions. And when we have questions, we can be curious, and when we can be curious, then we have a sense of purpose in life.”