by Jessica Becker, Wisconsin Humanities Council

We live between fences. Fences have various forms and functions, some explicit, some implicit, some proudly displayed, others privately understood. They contain, protect, define and divide. They are more interesting than they appear.

Yi-Fu Tuan, a cultural geographer and professor emeritus from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote: "Place is security, space is freedom: we are attached to the one and long for the other" (Space and Place, 1977).

I've been considering the fence, as both an object and a notion, for the past two years. Ever since I first read the description of "Between Fences," a traveling exhibition produced by the Smithsonian, I've noticed fences in my neighborhood, in the countryside, throughout the suburbs and across the landscape.

The Wisconsin Humanities Council has rented "Between Fences" and, with support from a program called "Museum on Main Street," is touring the exhibition around rural Wisconsin. On behalf of the Wisconsin Humanities Council, I've spent nearly two years working with community leaders from six Wisconsin towns to prepare for this one-of-a-kind opportunity to host "Between Fences." The communities of Waupaca, Hales Corners, La Farge, Sauk Prairie, Clear Lake and Cable each stood out amongst an impressive pool of applications and were selected for the unique ways in which each applying organization suggested their community could benefit from the Smithsonian exhibition "coming to town."

In September 2007, we all gathered in Waupaca to see the exhibition for the first time. It arrived in fifteen crates so meticulously packed and organized that we, all novices in the world of museum exhibitions, could build the free-standing kiosks. The exhibition is simple and beautiful, made up of provocative historic and modern images, maps and artifacts. Visitors approach the exhibition through a picket fence with a mailbox on one of the posts. The mailbox is full of postcards that visitors can pull out and read. The introduction states: "This is an exhibition about your home and the land on which it stands. This is a story of the settling of the United States, the establishment of its communities and the building of its borders."

After winding through the exhibition, looking through peepholes and lifting flaps, visitors come across a special kiosk called "Wisconsin Fences." This portion of the exhibition was designed and produced by the Wisconsin Humanities Council, with support from local fence companies and the Wisconsin-Northern Illinois Chapter of the American Fence Association.

"Wisconsin Fences" explores six place-based stories, all relating to the ways we think about and manage land in our state, both historically and today. Some of the sections include "Forced Out, Fenced In" about wolves in the Northwoods, "Highways: Barriers and Bridges" about sprawl in Milwaukee County and "Public Waters, Private Land" about resource management in areas under pressure from development.

In Waupaca, visitors have also been able to see what a local group of third graders think about fences. On display are books made by these youngsters over the course of a school year, complete with photographs and evolving definitions of the fences that shape their lives and landscapes.

By the end of the year, many of the students felt strongly that the stereotypes and divisions they noticed in their school and community deserved more critical consideration. One lucky third-grade graduate, Jakob Stedman, was at the grand opening at the Waupaca Area Public Library on September 15; he cut the stretch of electric fence to officially welcome "Between Fences" to Wisconsin.

"Between Fences" will open in Hales Corners at the Stahl-Conrad Homestead on November 3, 2007, and be on display for six weeks. The complete tour schedule can be found on the Wisconsin Humanities Council Web site.

In each location, visitors will see the unique efforts each community has made to tell their history, explore the relevant issues of the day and contemplate a future shaped by their own special place—and space—in the world.