TX Stage Curtains

"Preserving the Past to Enrich the Future..."
In 2016, CSAA members traveled to Fredericksburg, Texas to attend the annual country school conference hosted by a very active preservation group, the Friends of Gillespie County Schools. Here we were introduced to a fascinating city steeped in history, where we enjoyed presentations, scenery, samplers, and schoolhouses. But that wasn't the whole story. The tour of local schoolhouses included the display of a number of colorful advertising curtains, backdrops for the school's stage performances.
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After completing a restoration project of one such treasure, the Willow City School painted curtain, Friends member Jane Woellhof undertook the project of photographing and researching other curtains still known to exist in the Gillespie County area. Her work culminated in "An Album of Painted School Stage Curtains, Gillespie County Country Schools, Fredericksburg, Texas".

Here we are pleased to share her project highlighting a monumental 6-year project to document the surviving advertising curtains in the county. For those of us who were unfamiliar with such curtains, the artwork spoke loudly of the level of community support for their public schools, their children, and their performances.

In this link you will enjoy the story that unfolds and the questions still to be answered. You are invited to share any information you have on stage curtains with CSAA member Jane Woellhof and the Friends of Gillespie County Schools.

Thanks to Jane and Friends for sharing their website and their on-going preservation work!

Access the stage curtain project and the FOGCS websites with the buttons below.
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PAINTED SCHOOL STAGE CURTAINS

FRIENDS OF GILLESPIE COUNTY SCHOOLS