Scott Blais will be speaking on Saturday April 7 at 11am as part of the Smithsonian's touring Between Fences exhibit which opened in Hohenwald last weekend. He will be speaking in Hohenwald at the recently renovated Strand Theatre at 100 East Main Street. Scott's presentation will focus on fencing in the particular context of The Elephant Sanctuary, and more generally address the issues of the problems for elephants in captivity and in the wild as the planet becomes more crowded.

The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service's website summarizes Between Fences as follows:

Curated by Gregory K. Dreicer of Chicken and Egg Public Projects, Inc., Between Fences focuses on every region of the United States. Between Fences will enlighten audiences who live surrounded by these familiar objects whose history and meaning they hardly suspect. They will discover how tightly the fence is entwined with politics, industry, and daily life. The ability to expose the unexpected within the familiar - while revealing to visitors something about themselves - will be the exhibition's great strength. Between Fences encourages visitors to feel the significance of a crucial aspect of their personal and national heritage. Fences, like barns, are tools that embody a culture and its values. By understanding both historic and contemporary fences, we can better understand ourselves as Americans.

The Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit, Between Fences, will be in Hohenwald through May 13, 2007. The exhibit is presented at the Lewis County Museum through a partnership between the Smithsonian Institution and Humanities Tennessee. See www.museumonmainstreet.org for more information about "Between Fences" Events are planned in Hohenwald each weekend in conjunction with the exhibit.

Operating on 2,700 acres in Hohenwald, Tennessee, The Elephant Sanctuary has been developed specifically to meet the needs of endangered African and Asian elephants. The nonprofit organization, licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, is designed specifically for old, sick or needy elephants that have been retired from zoos and circuses. A true sanctuary, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee is not intended to provide entertainment: resident elephants are not required to perform for or entertain the public. Instead, they are encouraged to live like elephants. As stated by Phil Snyder, former regional director of the Humane Society of the United States, "The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee represents the future of enlightened captive elephant management."