AHC Newsletter Articles on the Between Fences Project in Arizona

Smithsonian Exhibit Visits Topawa, Cottonwood, And Winslow

Since AHC’s last newsletter report, the Smithsonian exhibition Between Fences traveled to Topawa, Cottonwood, and Winslow from March through August 2008 before leaving Arizona and returning to Washington, DC. Between Fences helped visitors explore the history of fences in America, and all six Arizona host communities developed companion exhibits and programming that highlighted their local connections to both physical and cultural fences.

The patio site of the opening presentation, with sacred Baboquivari Peak in the distance.

Between Fences opened on March 15, 2008, at the new Tohono O'odham Nation Cultural Center & Museum in Topawa, a very small town outside of Sells on the Tohono O'odham Nation. The museum worked with several project partners including the Nation’s Executive Branch, Education Department, and several district entities. Museum staff created an impressive companion exhibit entitled “O’odham Fences,” which illustrated the tribe’s history with fence types, the development of political districts due to ranching, and the tribe’s painful division by the international border.

A diorama from “O’odham Fences” depicting the Nation’s dilemma over the international border.

Their ancillary programs included a traveling version of “O’odham Fences” that coincided with after-school programs and community discussions with O’odham elders at several district locations, including Menager's Dam Recreation Center, the San Lucy Education Center in Gila Bend, the Hickiwan Recreation Center, and the Pisin Mo'o Recreation Center in Pisinemo. Museum staff also conducted a traditional fence-building demonstration and workshop, and hosted an International School Day program that brought O’odham families together from both sides of the international border to view films, to make traditional arts and crafts, and to participate in traditional singing and dancing.

Barbara Evans and Mary Liggit use the Smithsonian’s fence wall to demonstrate good neighbor relations.

The Verde Historical Society/Clemenceau Heritage Museum also worked with several project partners, including the Cottonwood Library, the Cottonwood/Oak Creek School District #6, and the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce, who helped with multiple publicity efforts. The museum did an excellent job with publicity, getting the word out to regional chambers, libraries, museums, state and national parks, hotels, and RV parks. They hosted a well-attended grand opening event on May 3 with a lively roster of presenters, including mayor Diane Joens. On view at the museum, which is housed in the historic 1923 Clemenceau School building, were several small fence-related displays as well as two murals of historic Verde Valley fences created for the project by local artist Julie Flatt and three troops of Cadet and Junior Girl Scouts.

The opening day cake displayed two different fence types, the post and the barbed wire.

The museum and their dedicated group of volunteers hosted a well-attended speaker series on fence issues in the Verde Valley, which included “Ranches and Farmers” by Don Godard and Andy Groseta, “General Crook” by Dennis Lockhart, “Native American Perspective” by Vince Randall, “Fences and Walls, Which Side Are You On?” by project scholar Ed Williams, and “Prehistoric Sandals of the Southwest” by Dan Julian. They also held a photo contest on Verde Valley fences that was displayed in the Cottonwood Public Library and judged by the El Valle Art Association. In addition, with the help of the school district, they launched a successful school program for fourth grade students and teachers that included a project for twelve classes to photograph local fences and make photo collages to hang at the museum.

Mayor Robin Boyd cuts the red ribbon to open Between Fences in Winslow.

The exhibition arrived for its final stop in Arizona on June 21, 2008. The Winslow Historical Society hosted Between Fences at the SNOWDRIFT Art Space, where their companion exhibit, entitled “Lines in the Sand: Fences, Rails, Trails, and Boundaries,” was displayed alongside contemporary art. The exhibit illustrated the lines of demarcation that define Winslow, including explorer and settler trails, the borders of Navajo and Hopi tribal lands, the railroad, ranching, the Charles Lindbergh-designed airport, and Route 66. In addition to the museum’s exhibit, there were essays from the fourth grade and high school on display, and oral histories from four diverse local families were available at a listening station.

Visitors view the Winslow Historical Society’s local exhibit, including historic artifacts from Winslow's airport, trading posts, and Route 66.

The opening of the exhibits was celebrated with a marvelous performance by Northland Pioneer College’s Mexican Folklore Dance Club. On that and every Saturday, visitors were able to view the exhibits including local performers, western artist Mel Bradshaw, Arizona Blues Hall of Famer Tommy Dukes, musician Rhoda Linstra, the Winslow Starz Dance Troupe, the Homolovi Dance Group, and the Winslow Harvey Girls Trunk Show. In addition to their local exhibit and public programs, the Winslow Historical Society and SNOWDRIFT Art Space made a unique contribution to the project by partnering with AHC on the Between Fences Visual Archive, which documents the history of the Between Fences project in Arizona through photographs and text. To visit the archive, click here.

The Arizona Tour of Between Fences : An Evaluation Summary

The Arizona tour of Between Fences was a gratifying project for a variety or reasons. As the state coordinating agency, AHC was able to provide each site with financial support as well as technical assistance in the form of multiple workshops and site visits. The former included workshops on program themes and activities, exhibit development, docent training and teacher outreach, and exhibition installation, and two of these included representatives from the Smithsonian. Almost every site attended each workshop, and all who did considered them to be extremely valuable. Site visits were also productive, with AHC staff going to each site four times and the two project scholars making two full rounds of visits. Sites greatly appreciated the assistance of both AHC and the Smithsonian, as planning and training were critical to the success of the project at each location.

Host sites convened for the Program Workshop to discuss potential plans and opportunities.

With regard to AHC’s organizational mission, Between Fences addressed the Council’s focus on contemporary issues with its discussion of the U.S.-Mexico border, and Smithsonian traveling exhibitions encourage cultural heritage tourism. In addition, Museum on Main Street exhibitions such as Between Fences help AHC fulfill its commitment to rural Arizona by fostering organizational development and community partnerships at host sites.

The entire exhibition in its shipping crates.

As for the sites themselves, each one did a remarkable job, stretching their comfort levels and organizational capacities, and rising to every challenge the overall project asked of them. Though financial and technical assistance from both the national and state levels are critical, Museum on Main Street tours are made or broken at the local level. The host sites’ efforts in connecting their local stories to the themes in the exhibitions are what visitors most respond to, and the Arizona host sites did not disappoint. Each site created a local exhibit that addressed themes from the Smithsonian exhibition, and developed diverse public programs that did the same, including speaker- and film-discussion series, community forums and panel discussions, original photo exhibits and contests, and art shows and performances.

Most of the Installation Workshop attendees, after a wonderful lunch provided by the Pimeria Alta Historical Society.

In the process, they recruited scores of new volunteers, trained new docents, forged new community partnerships and coalitions, and reached out to teachers and students to engage them in a wide range of school programs. They launched publicity campaigns, contacted state and local officials, and hosted grand opening events and open houses. As Jim McMeekin from the Verde Historical Society wrote of the opportunities and challenges of hosting Between Fences, “this exhibit was anticipated to attract more visitors, reach a more diversified audience, challenge our membership to more active participation, involve local organizations in partnerships, and provide an especially relevant and professional exhibition for our museum visitors.” Through these combined endeavors, six communities with a cumulative population of 52,000 hosted the Smithsonian exhibit for 7306 people. In addition, 16,128 people viewed the local exhibits and attended the supplemental public programs, for a grant total of 23,434 participants in the Arizona tour of Between Fences.

Between Fences scholars with staff in the Tohono O'odham Nation Cultural Center & Museum’s collections lab.

AHC would also like to acknowledge two valuable statewide partnerships. APS provided a substantial in-kind donation in the form of printing the Arizona Between Fences tour posters and rack cards, which were widely used throughout the tour by AHC and especially the sites. The Arizona Commission on the Arts, thanks to the efforts of Executive Director Bob Booker and Senior Director of Programs Mitch Menchaca, provided each site with a $1000 grant for arts activities during their tour, matching the site grants made by AHC.

Winslow Historical Society staff and volunteers meet with the state project team three months prior to the site’s Between Fences opening.

AHC has one final project outcome to share from Arizona’s Between Fences tour. Edward Williams, content scholar for the project, initiated, edited, and contributed to a special “fences” issue of The Journal of the Southwest, an interdisciplinary journal published quarterly by the Southwest Center at the University of Arizona. This special issue of a scholarly journal constitutes a significant achievement of the Between Fences project in Arizona, for which AHC thanks Dr. Williams, Director Joe Wilder and staff member Jeff Banister of the Southwest Center, and other contributors to the issue including Between Fences museum scholar Anna Johnson and Robbie Davis, our Smithsonian contact with Museums on Main Street. The Autumn 2008 issue is available from the Southwest Center at http://swctr.web.arizona.edu/.

Visit the Between Fences Visual Archive, a joint project of AHC, the Winslow Historical Society, and SNOWDRIFT Art Space, to view the history of the Between Fences project in Arizona through photographs and text.