By Mark Coddington
mark.coddington@theindependent.com

Print Story | e-mail Story | Visit Forums

Featured Advertiser

Independent/Scott Kingsley Plainsman Museum Director Megan Sharp shows off one section of the Museum's "Between Fences" exhibit on loan from the Smithsonian Institution. The exhibit begins Monday and will continue through May 15. Independent/Scott Kingsley The Plainsman Museum in Aurora added a section of its own to the "Between Fences" Smithsonian Institution touring exhibit on display at the facility beginning Monday. The area shows off local images that have fences including this 1896 image of a threshing crew near Phillips. Click Thumbnails to View

"They said, 'You'll never look at a fence the same way again,' and you can't," said Sharp, the museum's director. "It's something you take for granted, but then when you start looking at it, it's interesting."

The Plainsman is the sixth of seven Nebraska museums to host the exhibit, which traces the history and functions of fences from colonial America to modern-day international borders.

The subject matter may seem simple, but the themes run deep. Display boards are highlighted by words such as "community," "home" and "happiness."

"This is an exhibition about your home and the land on which it stands," reads the sign welcoming visitors to the exhibit.

The exhibit examines several basic types of fences, from picket to barbed wire to "spite fences" fences built for the purpose of, well, spite.

Along the way, it discusses the role fences have played in defining home and land ownership, borders and ultimately the American Dream.

For Sharp, who grew up among the stretches of barbed-wire fence on a ranch in western Nebraska, fences have long been just a part of life.

She suspects it's the same for many in this area.

"We're rural, agricultural. This is something that we can relate to, that we have firsthand knowledge of and experience with," she said.

The museum was chosen to host the exhibit by the Nebraska Humanities Council through a program called Museum on Main Street.

The program allows museums to host the exhibit for free and actually receive money for promotion and related programming.

Sharp said being able to host such an exhibit is a major asset for the Plainsman.

"It's really good for us because we just don't have the budget for traveling exhibits of this quality," she said.

Students at Aurora and Hampton schools are contributing an art project with fence sections to coincide with the exhibit.

Sharp said she hopes people from the area will come out to see the exhibit, which runs through May 15, along with the local connections that have been tied into it.

"It's a great opportunity to see a really neat exhibit right here, close to home," she said.

Between Fences

What: Exhibit on fences' history, meaning

When: Monday through May 15 (Grand opening, 5-7 p.m. Monday)

Where: Plainsman Museum, 210 16th St., Aurora