Avner Eisenberg calls it a Shangri-la.
Fritz Grobe says it's the best-kept secret in the performing arts.
Both are talking about the Celebration Barn Theater in South Paris, which is shuttered for the winter. In summer, it is home to a thriving community of performance artists who come to Maine to study and develop their skills.
Founded in 1972 by the late Tony Montanaro, the Barn has achieved legendary status in the theater world for its aura and karma.
Montanaro converted the farmstead into a school in the woods, operating on the crazy notion that he could attract students to rural Maine to study mime, which was his specialty.
He was right, of course.
In the 33 summers since, the Celebration Barn Theater has sent hundreds of performers down their career paths, including Grobe, a juggler who lives in Buckfield.
"It's why I am doing what I am doing today," said Grobe, who serves on the Barn's newly formed board of directors and works as a teacher there. "I grew up seeing Celebration Barn performers, and without even realizing it at the time, I was soaking it all up.
"As a kid growing up, I saw things there I never would have seen otherwise. It opened my eyes to a whole world of possibilities. And when I decided it was something I actually wanted to pursue, it was the place in the country to go and study variety theater."
Maine is known internationally for its summer retreats for artists. Painters trot off to Monhegan. Crafters go to Haystack. Musicians flock to Brunswick.
Jugglers, clowns, mimes and storytellers go to South Paris.
To keep that trend going, Grobe, Eisenberg and others are trying to raise a little money to fix up the Barn.
It seems that the roof is leaking, and the electrical system is woefully inadequate.
"We need money immediately to fix holes in the roof and to evict our lovely tenants, the porcupine family that lives in the basement of the house and has been eating the wiring," said Eisenberg, the board's president.
"And then we have almost like a capital campaign to upgrade the facility and make it more comfortable for students and teachers."
The Barn is not trying to raise the roof, as it were. Eisenberg and his board are appealing to Barn graduates and supporters for quick money to solve pressing issues - like the roof - and then additional funds for future growth. In a letter to supporters, Eisenberg put the fundraising goal at about $40,000.
In a world where arts groups launch fund drives to raise millions, $40,000 sounds like a modest sum.
That's just the way things are up at the Barn, Grobe said.
"It's a very Maine way to do it. We don't go out and get the $3 million to make everything fancy. We just want to raise what we feel is necessary," said Grobe.
Montanaro instilled that attitude way back when. It's always been a shoestring, low-key operation. In the early days, when the Barn was still a barn, students were expected to clean out the horse stalls after class.
Carolyn Brett, the Barn's executive director, said about $8,500 already has been raised - in less than a month. Roof work will begin in the spring, as soon as weather permits and fundraising tops $10,000.
That the Barn survived all these years is testament to Montanaro's vision and those who have tended to it since his death.
"More than anything else, what I got from Tony was a sense that it's not about the lights, it's not about the costumes," Grobe said. "It's not about the flash, the fancy tricks or whatever you may do. It's about the heart that you bring to it.
"I see that as the great strength of the people who come out of the Barn. They are sharing their own mind, their own heart with the audience."
Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:
bkeyes@pressherald.com
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