STARKSBORO — Christine Hadsel, director of Curtains Without Borders, will be presenting Vermont’s Historic Theater Curtains at the Starksboro Public Library Thursday, May 1, at 7 a.m.

Between 1880 and World War II, painted theater curtains were artistic features of most New England villages and towns. In Vermont, painted curtains graced stages in town and grange halls, opera houses, and community theaters. A culture of local variety shows and traveling, professional talent flourished in front of those curtains in remote Vermont communities. In a tour of some of the 177 curtains in Vermont, Hadsel provides a glimpse into the world of talented and often sophisticated artists who were part of the rural cultural scene, illustrating the rich cultural history of small-town Vermont before World War I.

The Starksboro Public Library, originally built as the Town Hall, has a Theater Curtain upstairs. The 1911 Starksboro Town Hall grand drape, “Cape Wrath,” was painted by L. L. Graham of Brooklyn, N.Y. Hadsel and her team of professional conservators and Starksboro volunteers cleaned and conserved the curtain in 2002. (We may or may not be able to view our Town’s curtain after the presentation, depending on the Library’s exciting new construction project to install an ADA compliant lift.)

This presentation is free, open to the public, and accessible to those with disabilities. It will last 45-60 minutes, with time for questions at the end. Light refreshments will be provided. The Starksboro Public Library is located at 2827 Rt. 116 in Starksboro.