We live between fences. We may hardly notice them, but they are dominant features in our lives and in our history. Built of hedge, concrete, wood and metal, the fence skirts our properties and is central to the American landscape. We use them to enclose our houses and neighborhoods. They are decorative structures that are as much part of the landscape as trees and flowers. Industry and agriculture without fences would be difficult to imagine. Private ownership of land would be an abstract concept.

But fences are more than functional objects. They are powerful symbols. The way we define ourselves as individuals and as a nation becomes concrete in how we build fences.

Through an examination of boundaries, place, and space, Between Fences will explore how neighbors and nations divide, protect, offend, and defend through the boundaries they build.

 

This exhibit runs from January 17, 2009 - March 1, 2009

A Road Scholar Program by Jane Ann Moore

Lonn Pressnell as Abe Lincoln viewing the "American Presidency: A Glorious Burden" exhibit at the Missouri Historical SocietyJoin living historian, Lonn Pressnall, a retired professor of drama at Richland Community College, as he becomes "the Great Railsplitter" Abraham Lincoln in a first-person characterization.

Lincoln will discuss the importance of rivers and natural conservation in Central Illinois.

Pressnall has been performing as Abraham Lincoln for many years, including in venues at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the Missouri Historical Society, and for the Illinois Department of Tourism, to name a few.

Discussing the needs and interests of veterans.

Also, a meet-n-greet between veterans and artists, sharing stories and building creative partnerships.