News and Planned Events
Please show your support for Liberty Hall and we’ll be back to having pot-lucks at Liberty Hall one day soon! Your support makes all the difference, and we thank you in advance!
Liberty Hall News
2025
News and Events
On July 26th, Liberty Hall opened its doors to the public again.
People began arriving before the building opened at 1 pm and there was a steady stream of visitors throughout the afternoon. Local people enjoyed the opportunity to be back in Liberty Hall to reminisce and share happy memories of earlier times spent there. Visitors from other towns and from places further afield marveled at the sheer grandeur and scale of the building with its fine architectural details.
For the 2025 Open House, photographer, Michelle Hauser, returned to Machiasport to install a pop-up exhibition, Meeting Halls: Inspiring Maine’s Collective Futures. She was joined by artist Sally Eckhoff, with her hand drawn film The Innocent Bystander that animates Dan Hicks’ song of the same title. Distinguished Maine photographer, Rose Marasco, also gave a short presentation about her 1992 project, Ritual and Community: The Maine Grange.
Undoubtedly, the highlight of the program was the grand ceremonial unwrapping of two recently rediscovered theatrical backdrops in Liberty Hall’s basement. With the generous help and heft of the Arise team, we had managed move them upstairs into the theater (along with a newly donated piano).
With great trepidation, everyone watched as the first backdrop was unfurled – a decaying silver screen. Nothing to see there! But the second was simply amazing – an almost perfectly preserved hand painted backdrop. It elicited an audible gasp from a delighted audience
We celebrated the success of the 2025 Open House – and the newfound treasure of its theatrical history -- with a concluding musical program by the much-loved Downeast maestro, Gene Nichols.
The 2025 Liberty Hall Open House was hosted by the Friends of Liberty Hall, Greenhorns and the Maine Civic Halls Initiative. It was also in collaboration with the Gates House. The event received support from The Kindling Fund, a grant program administered by SPACE as part of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program.
