"Theater at Monmouth Maine, Side Door" Cumston Hall Contemporary Hand-Printed and Painted Architectural Numbered Photograph

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Late 20th century photo image size is a 21 3/4 x 15” black and white photograph hand printed on 20” … Read more Late 20th century photo image size is a 21 3/4 x 15” black and white photograph hand printed on 20” x 24” watercolor paper and hand painted in traditional transparent oil paints. It is not framed and not mounted.Hence there may be some variation in the wave of the paper. It is signed 84’ by Alene Dowden and numbered 7/25 and has a limited number of 25 prints. This image is an historical record of a vanishing America. There are 3 prints available of a striking image.
Theater at Monmouth is a year-round repertory company of professional theatre artists from across Maine and the United States. Founded in 1970, the Theater was named The Shakespearean Theater of Maine by the Maine State Legislature in 1975. Performances are held in Cumston Hall, listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings since 1976.
Cumston Hall is one of the crown jewels of Maine. To the chance passerby it comes as a startling surprise, towering dramatically over Main Street.
Its exquisite stained glass windows and asymmetrical design capture the imagination. Cumston Hall is more than a remarkable building or intimate theater- it represents the heart and center of the Town of Monmouth.
Users of Cumston include: The Theater at Monmouth, The Monmouth Community Players, Monmouth Schools, and the Friends of Cumston Hall!

An Historic Landmark
Listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings since 1976, Cumston Hall is a valued architectural gem. While Dr. Charles M. Cumston donated the funds for the building to the Town of Monmouth in 1899, it has always been a gift shared with the community at large.
Dr. Cumston commissioned Harry Cochrane, an accomplished painter, writer, composer and musician, to design the building. Cochrane’s design transformed Cumston’s vision for a town hall into a grand building, with an opera hall, library, caucus room and town office all in one. Cumston Hall was built in just one year at a cost of $20,000. Well ahead of its time in amenities, the building boasted indoor plumbing and, at Dr. Cumston’s insistence, was lighted by electricity – the first building in Monmouth with this convenience.
The building’s architecture is a mix of a Romanesque style of asymmetrical columns and towers and varying external textures of the Queen Anne period. The building is decorated throughout with plaster ornamentation, beautifully crafted exterior and interior wood trim, and hand stenciled ceilings. The 250-seat opera hall features elaborate plaster carvings, and a fresco mural ceiling. More than 100 stained glass windows adorn the Hall.

The Heart and Center of Monmouth, Maine See less