Willow Grange in Jefferson recently learned that they have been awarded a $2000 grant from the Maine Community Foundation to restore a set of antique theater curtains that have been at the Grange for more than a century.
The five curtains were purchased for $125 from a New York artist named LL Graham one year after the hall was built in 1905. They are hand-painted with a variety of indoor and outdoor scenes, and unlike most Grange stage curtains, they don’t contain any advertisements, said Willow Grange Master Paula Roberts.
Four of the curtains are backdrops with scenery for plays; the fifth curtain is a grand drape that hangs in front of the stage, which is what most people think of as “the curtain”.
The rarity of the curtains was discovered last fall, after Jefferson Historical Society member Ruth Holden saw a presentation on theater curtains by Christine Hadsel of Curtains Without Borders and Vermont Painted Theater Curtains. Hadsel visited Willow Grange – at Holden’s expense, Roberts said – and was impressed with the set.
“They’re really quite wonderful,” Hadsel said. What makes them special is that they are in remarkably good condition for their age, and they are a complete set: a rural outdoor scene; a town outdoor scene; the interior of a mansion; the interior of a modest home; and a grand drape with a painting of Venice.
“It’s everything a local theater company, or a traveling theater company would need,” Hadsel said. Some sets include a sixth curtain – often a seascape – but most have an empty sixth roller for troupes that carry their own backdrops.
Willow Grange will work to restore the curtains next year, Roberts said, using the grant money and funds raised this winter and throughout next year.
Hadsel estimated the cost to fully restore all five curtains to be around $13,000, but told the Grange that $6000 or $7000 worth of restoration should suffice.
“They all need a little help, but only the grand drape is in trouble,” Hadsel said. “The rest are okay for a little while.”
Roberts said the Grange hasn’t settled on a specific plan to raise the funds, but they may hold a community play next spring.
“We hope there are people living in or around Jefferson that have an interest in the historical value of the curtains and an interest in the theater that will step forward and join us in our fundraising efforts to restore the curtains,” Roberts said.
The project will also require several volunteers to give their time working on the project. Hadsel will come to Jefferson with at least one other conservator, but will require help from several local volunteers while they work on the curtains, Hadsel said.
Once the restoration is complete, Willow Grange hopes to revive the tradition of holding local performances at the Grange Hall, Roberts said.
“The Grange stage used to be the cultural center of Jefferson with variety shows and popular entertainers from all over New England taking the stage,” Roberts said.
Hadsel said the quality of the curtains supports Roberts’ description of the Grange Hall’s former stature.
“The quality of the curtains is way above the pay grade of most granges,” Hadsel said. “These curtains were usually in the kind of town hall that liked to pretend it was an opera house.”
For more information on the curtains or the restoration project, call Paula Roberts at 563-3363 (home) or 563-3171 (work). Donations can be made out to Willow Grange Curtain Fund and sent care of Roberts, P.O. Box 36, Damariscotta, 04543.
For more information on Curtains Without Borders, call Christine Hadsel at 802-863-4938, or go online at www.curtainswithoutborders.org.
